Labor Day holiday travelers helped push airport passenger traffic to a record high since March.
Just shy of one million passengers were screened by the TSA on Friday.
The 968,673 travelers is still more than 50% down on normal levels but is the highest since mid-March when the impact of Covid-19 started significantly impacting travel.
It’s also a big improvement on the paltry 87,534 passengers who were screened on a single day in April during the industry’s lowest point.
The agency says it has cut screening times by about half compared to the Labor Day long weekend last year when there were 2.2 million daily passengers screened.
"For travelers who have not flown since the beginning of the pandemic, the TSA checkpoint experience will be noticeably different as compared to Labor Day last year," said TSA Administrator David Pekoske.
"Passengers also play an important role in helping us ensure they safely and efficiently get through security screening at our airports while wearing masks and respecting social distancing."
Florida’s theme parks were busy over the holiday with both Disney and Universal saying they reached their reduced capacity limits.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US editor
