U.S. screened 2.56 million air passengers Sunday, highest since 2019

[November 28, 2022]  By David Shepardson
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it screened 2.56 million air passengers on Sunday, the highest number since December 2019 and the busiest day since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Travelers navigate through a security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. November 22, 2022. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer

The number was, however, below the 2.88 million screened on the same day in 2019 at the end of the busy U.S. Thanksgiving travel period.

U.S. airlines reported very few cancellations over the holiday travel period, including 177 on Sunday and 36 on Monday. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Saturday on Twitter that Friday "went well for air travel on-time performance, with cancellation and delay rates at 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively."

U.S. airlines had planned to operate 13% fewer domestic flights during the eight-day Thanksgiving travel period compared with 2019, according to data by Cirium, but often with larger planes.

Airlines and Buttigieg clashed for months over summer woes that led to tens of thousands of flight disruptions and prompted the department to pressure airlines to do more to boost customer service to passengers.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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