Jacksonville, Florida. – The Transportation Security Administration is anticipating a busy Fourth of July weekend for travelers as it reported the highest number of passengers ever screened across the country on Sunday.
Connected: New travel records expected to be set on Independence Day
Matthew Satterthwaite was one of the passengers.
“My flight out of Rochester, New York, yesterday was busier than I've ever seen it before,” Satterwhite said.
That's the sentiment we hear over and over again from airline passengers at Jacksonville International Airport.
They recommend that if you're flying within the next week, be patient, and arrive at the airport as early as your airline recommends.
“You won't get the seats you want, you won't get the travel experience you're used to, it's just different. Pack properly and show up on time,” said airline traveler Ashley.
Another traveler described how parking garages are filling up fast.
“It's busy, yes, all the hourly garages are gone that are normally open, so we're at the daily garage, expecting to pay hourly pricing,” Orry said.
Another passenger said that the bus was busy on Tuesday.
“It's crazy, there's so much traffic, there's no parking in the parking garage, it's unusually busy for a Tuesday,” Ariel said.
According to the TSA, the agency screened 3 million travelers on Sunday, breaking the record for the number of people screened in a single day.
TSA expects to screen more than 32 million travelers between Thursday, June 27 and Monday, July 8 for the July 4th holiday weekend.
The TSA expects peak travel day to be Friday, June 28, and said it is committed to meeting its wait time standards, which are 10 minutes and less for TSA PreCheck and 30 minutes and less in standard screening lanes.
The Federal Aviation Administration held a virtual event with air traffic professionals and National Weather Service meteorologists to discuss how the FAA and the command center handle the heat and travel volume.
He also discussed what was being done to keep aircraft safe during bad weather.
“If you're flying from Atlanta to Los Angeles, the planes don't want to go through those storms, and we want them to go through, so we'll reroute those planes,” said Walter Williams, FAA national operations manager.
Watch the FAA's full briefing below.
Airports are busier than ever because of summer vacations, the July 4th weekend and travelers have more freedom than ever to work anywhere in the country, travel experts said.
Record flyers also indicate that the country's economy is strong and Americans have the money to travel to other cities and states.
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