The record travel coincides with the Memorial Day weekend that marks the beginning of the U.S. summer travel season. Last week, a group representing major U.S. airlines forecast record summer travel with airlines expected to transport 271 million passengers, up 6.3% from last year.
The TSA said Friday’s travel broke a record set in November of nearly 2.91 million air passengers screened. Five of the 10 busiest ever travel days have been since May 16, the agency said.
Airlines for America said U.S carriers plan to fly more than 26,000 daily flights this summer, up nearly 1,400 over 2023, or 5.6%, when they carried 255 million passengers. The summer travel season forecast is for June 1 to Aug. 31.
American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab said it will boost flights by 10% this summer expects 10% higher passengers over the May 23-May 28 Memorial Day travel period — nearly 3.9 million passengers on 36,000 flights.
United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new tab is forecasting it will handle 3 million travelers during the Memorial Day travel period, up nearly 10% and its highest number ever during the period.
Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new tab said it expects a 5% jump in Memorial Day weekend customers to nearly 3 million customers between May 23-27.
