June 30 Marks TSA’s Busiest Day

June 30 was the busiest day ever recorded by the Transportation Security Administration, officials announced over the weekend.

The total number of people screened nationwide at TSA checkpoints was 2,883,595, up from the previous record of 2,882,915 recorded on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 2019, according to the agency.

“TSA is staffed and ready for the increasing travel volumes during this holiday travel period with the technologies and resources for improved security effectiveness, efficiency and passenger experience at security checkpoints,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement.

“This is largely due to the funding we received in FY23 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which places all TSA employees on the same pay scale as most other federal employees. With the new pay implementation plan for all TSA employees starting in July, attrition levels at TSA have dropped to historic lows, which means our increased employee retention has resulted in sufficient staffing levels to meet the increased passenger demand throughout the country.”

Pekoske added: “We expect that passenger volumes will continue to grow, and we will continue to work with our industry partners in the transportation network to meet our passenger throughput standards of 30 minutes or less in standard lanes and 10 minutes or less in TSA PreCheck lanes. We met these standards over 98% of the time so far this year.”

The TSA noted that the summer of 2023 has been particularly busy due in large part to the number of people traveling after the end of COVID-19 health orders.