Nearly 3m people moved through US airports in a single day — a new record

The number of air travelers moving through U.S. airports hit a record Sunday, and the new mark might not last through next weekend. The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 2.99m people at airports Sunday, breaking the record of 2.95m set on May 24, the Friday before Memorial Day. TSA forecasts that it will break the 3m barrier on Friday, when many people will be getting an early start on their July 4 holiday travel plans. “We expect this summer to be our busiest ever and summer travel usually peaks over the Independence Day holiday,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. TSA expects to screen more than 32m people between Thursday and July 8, the Monday after the holiday, for a daily average of 2.67m. That would be a 5.4% increase over the July 4 period last year. Airlines for America, a trade group representing the largest U.S. carriers, predicts that air travel this summer will rise 6.3% over last year.<br/>