US holiday travel returns to pre-pandemic levels
Image from Unsplash
Over the Labor Day holiday weekend, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened 8.76 million travelers between Friday, September 2, 2022 and Monday, September 5, 2022. The weekend travel volume represents 102% of volume for the same pre-pandemic holiday weekend in 2019, marking the first time that a holiday weekend passenger screening volume exceeds that of 2019.
In 2019, TSA screened 8.62 million passengers over the Labor Day weekend, which typically represents the conclusion of the summer travel season. This year, Friday marked the heaviest travel day. Transportation Security Officers screened 2.48 million passengers. Over the course of the long weekend, around 92% of passengers in standard screening lanes waited less than 15 minutes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are many risk mitigation measures individuals traveling domestically during the COVID-19 pandemic can follow to prevent the further spread of the virus. These include receiving up-to-date vaccinations prior to travel, testing for COVID-19 before and after embarking on a trip, and following CDC masking guidelines.
During the weekend, Transportation Security Officers intercepted 67 firearms and prevented them from entering aircraft passenger cabins. On average, TSA stopped 17.3 firearms each day at checkpoints since the beginning of the year. If this pace continues, TSA anticipates that firearm catches at checkpoints will eclipse the current full year-record of 5,972 firearms intercepted at the nation’s checkpoints in 2021.
Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!
