TSA predicting a busy Fourth of July holiday
The Transportation Security Administration says it expects to screen more than 28 million passengers during the Fourth of July holiday period.
Holiday air travel will be up about 4% on last year, the TSA said.
It will be higher than that at some airports across the country, TSA administrator David Pekoske said in an interview.
"What we’ve seen already this summer are significant passenger increases," Pekoske said.
The agency counts the holiday period starting from June 29 to July 9.
In busy travel periods like the Fourth of July holiday, the agency works extra closely with airports and the respective airlines to accurately calculate passenger volumes.
"All three of us need to be very closely coordinated because the airlines help us with queuing into our security checkpoints. The airlines give us all kinds of data with respect to flight changes that are beyond what’s already scheduled. Sometimes they provide us additional people to help with the queuing situation, Pekoske told the Hill.
This Friday will see about 2.6 million take to the skies for the holidays, nearly 20% up on an average day.
Pekoske said he hopes to implement new advanced tech in the coming few years to significantly speed up the passenger flow.
This includes special machines which can capture personal and flight information from a person’s driver’s license, which are currently being tested.
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