by Donald Wood
Last updated: 3:53 PM ET, Mon July 6, 2020
Officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced it had screened more than 700,000 people each day throughout the Independence Day holiday weekend.
According to CNN.com, nearly 2.7 million travelers were screened by TSA agents between Thursday and Sunday, a massive increase from the Memorial Day weekend in May.
While the number of screened travelers has increased, the Fourth of July holiday saw just 28 percent of the 9.4 million people who passed through TSA checkpoints during the 2019 holiday weekend.
The 700,000 people screened daily were the highest totals since mid-March.
Airlines such as American and United said the Independence Day holiday weekend marked its busiest days since the coronavirus outbreak began, with both carriers now selling flights to capacity.
While several airlines have announced they would sell all of the seats on each flight again instead of blocking middle seats, passengers will be permitted to re-book without a fee to a flight with fewer travelers.
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley was angered to see a packed flight he took last week on American Airlines and has promised to introduce a bill to block the sale of middle seats during the coronavirus pandemic.
Waived change fees have also been a hot topic as the currently grounded Boeing 737 MAX fleet gets closer to being approved for flights once again. As a result, airlines will allow free flight changes when the planes return to the skies.
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