by Donald Wood
Last updated: 4:29 PM ET, Thu July 11, 2019
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced Thursday the agency had set a new record for its busiest day in history during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
According to the official website of the TSA, more than 11.9 million passengers and crew members went through security checkpoints between July 3-7 and over eight million checked bags were screened.
Sunday, July 7 was the busiest day in TSA history, with the agency screening 2,795,014 passengers and crew members. The total surpassed the Memorial Day weekend record by "a couple thousand" people.
"The operational success we experienced over the July Fourth holiday weekend is a testament to the combined efforts of our dedicated workforce and industry alliances," TSA acting deputy administrator Patricia Cogswell said in a statement. "What I'm most proud of isn't just the quantity of passengers and checked bags screened, but the quality of the screening our people provided even with that tremendous volume."
Despite the record-breaking numbers, TSA revealed that 99.7 percent of passengers across the United States waited less than 30 minutes in standard lanes, and 99.1 percent of TSA PreCheck passengers waited less than 10 minutes.
With a busy summer expected at airports across America, TSA officials are advising travelers to arrive at the airport at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight.
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