Sunday Air Travel Broke Records  

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced on social media platform X that Sunday marked the busiest day for air travel at airports nationwide, setting a new record. 

Yesterday was the busiest day ever at airports in the US, with the @TSA reporting 2,884,783 people screened. It was also an incredibly smooth day of travel with fewer than one-half of one percent of 51,332 scheduled flights canceled. pic.twitter.com/6ZUVmaHyDR

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 27, 2023

“BREAKING NEWS: Yesterday (Nov. 26), TSA screened just over 2.9M individuals at airports nationwide, which represents an agency record – the busiest day ever for air travel,” TSA wrote on X. 

BREAKING NEWS: Yesterday (Nov. 26), TSA screened just over 2.9M individuals at airports nationwide, which represents an agency record – the busiest day ever for air travel.

As #HolidayTravel season continues, we remind passengers to please arrive at the airport early.

— TSA (@TSA) November 27, 2023

Data via Bloomberg shows the number of people passing through security checkpoints at airports was 2.9 million, surpassing pre-Covid levels (2019) and hitting a record high. 

Despite the news, airline stocks failed to rally on the news and remained at levels seen during the Covid era. This lackluster performance is mainly attributed to the waning of ‘revenge travel’ and the increasing fuel costs that are squeezing profit margins.

Additionally, despite the severe pilot and air traffic controllers shortage that has disrupted the industry throughout the year, there were no significant delays reported yesterday.

Great job, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg! You’re still employed.