US airports break record for busiest travel day over Thanksgiving weekend

Domestic airlines had a lot to be thankful for over the long holiday weekend.

A record of more than 2.9 million ticket holders went through security at the nation’s airports Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday.

The figure marked the busiest day of air travel in US history, and came despite a cross-country storm that brought up to 8 inches of snow to the Midwest and rain to the Northeast.

The inclement weather brought low visibility to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, a major hub, and delayed more than 900 flights there Sunday, according to ABC News.

However, only three flights were canceled at O’Hare.

In the two days after Thanksgiving, the TSA had scanned 4.8 million passengers, officials with the agency said.

Some 5.3 million had boarded flights in the US in the two days before the holiday.

Airlines for America, which represents American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and others, predicted that TSA would screen 29.9 million passengers between Nov. 17 and 27, a 9% increase over the same period last year and an increase of 1.7 million passengers from pre-pandemic levels.

Federal transportation officials said they had hired more air traffic controllers and opened up new East Coast routes ahead of the blitz, which came as airlines had also added tens of thousands of employees over the past several years.

With Post wires