TSA screens highest number of travellers since March 2020

Travel is back on the rise, according to the TSA

A US Customs and Border Protection officer uses facial recognition technology in his booth at Miami International Airport to screen a traveler entering the United States on 27 February, 2018 in Miami, Florida. TSA has screened the highest number of travellers since March, 2020. (Getty Images)

Travel within the US appears to be on the rise, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening the highest number of air travellers since the beginning of the pandemic over the weekend.

According to the TSA, the agency tracked more than 4 million passengers on Saturday and Sunday combined.

Among those screened were 2,167,380 people at airport security checkpoints nationwide on Sunday, representing the highest checkpoint volume since the start of the pandemic.

“It also continues the trend of Sundays being the busiest days at TSA checkpoint,” TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said in a Twitter statement.

The TSA spokesperson also said 1,918,705 people were screened at airport security checkpoints on Saturday, representing the highest checkpoint volume for a Saturday.

Sunday’s record-high numbers blew past Friday’s previously recorded breaking numbers, which saw 2,137,584 people screened.

As The Hill, which first reported on the rise, noted, the surge in airport screenings comes ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, which AAA has predicted could see as many as 3.5 million air travellers.

While the boost will come as welcome news to the air travel industry, with travel ramping up as the US continues to roll out its vaccination programme and as states lift mandatory mask rules, not all are satisfied with the current Covid-19 restrictions still in place.

On Sunday, a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to the TSA asking and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asking when mask guidance for travelers will be changed.

In a statement on Thursday, the TSA warned travellers that the federal mask mandate is still in effect on “buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation travelling into, within, or out of the United States and in US transportation hubs such as airports and stations”.

“Unfortunately,” however, the agency said, “rising rates of unruly passengers, as reported by the FAA, are troubling as TSA reports similar incidents at checkpoints across the country”.

Such incidents, the agency said, “needlessly interrupt travel, delaying flights and other transportation operations across the country”.

“Passengers do not arrive at an airport or board a plane with the intent of becoming unruly or violent; however, what is an exciting return to travel for some may be a more difficult experience for others, which can lead to unexpected, and unacceptable, behaviors,” TSA Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator Darby LaJoye said in a statement published online.

The agency warned that it “will not tolerate such actions”, however, adding that travellers could face criminal charges and a civil penalty up to the maximum allowable by law if they refuse to comply with restrictions in place.