U.S. Airlines Report Strong Performance During Busiest-Ever Travel Day

The Thanksgiving travel crowd made up over three million passengers across the U.S. on Sunday alone, as the TSA predicted.

JetBlue and Delta aircraft in Los Angeles (Photo: Shutterstock | Markus Mainka)

[ Top Story ]December 2, 2024 12:02 pm ET

By Caleb Revill

Sunday saw over 3.08 million passengers navigate bustling U.S. airports and TSA checkpoints in a record-breaking day for airline traffic, the Transportation Security Administration said on Monday.

According to a TSA post on X/Twitter, the first day of December kicked off with 3,087,392 passengers traveling – beating the previous record set on July 7 of this summer by over 70,000 passengers.

The agency expected swarms of passengers for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, estimating in a Nov. 19 news release that there would be over 18 million people traveling from Nov. 26 to Dec. 1. Per the release, just over three million passengers were expected to travel on Sunday, which proved to be accurate.

BREAKING NEWS: Yesterday, December 1st was the busiest day ever for TSA – our officers screened 3.087M individuals at airports nationwide. If you’re still traveling home from the Thanksgiving holiday, please arrive at the airport early. Contact @AskTSA with any travel questions. pic.twitter.com/lhzGYb2Gw6

— TSA (@TSA) December 2, 2024

Strong Performance

U.S. airlines largely performed well on Dec. 1, despite the influx in travelers. According to data from Anuvu Pulse, 87 flight cancellations were reported on Sunday.

Overall, airlines reported a completion factor of 99.6%. On-time departures lagged a bit, with just over 56% of flights leaving at their scheduled times.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had the most cancellations at 12 flights. Alaska Airlines regional subsidiary Horizon Air reported the highest cancellation rate at 7.25%.

American, Delta, United, and Southwest all reported cancellation rates under 1% on Sunday. Southwest led in terms of on-time arrivals with nearly 88% of its flights arriving within 15 minutes of planned schedules.

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Ryan Ewing

Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.

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Caleb Revill

Caleb Revill is a journalist, writer and lifelong learner working as a Junior Writer for Firecrown. When he isn't tackling breaking news, Caleb is on the lookout for fascinating feature stories. Every person has a story to tell, and Caleb wants to help share them! He can be contacted by email anytime at [email protected].
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Ryan Ewing

Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.
View all posts