by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 1:50 PM ET, Thu August 29, 2024
The U.S. flight cancellation rate for the year thus far is 1.6 percent, despite the flight disruptions caused by the global CrowdStrike outage in July and a busy summer storm season across the nation.
The data came from a new U.S. Department of Transportation report published on August 29. By comparison, Reuters reported that 2023 saw a 1.5 percent cancellation rate. This year’s rate is the second lowest since 2017.
The report found that air travel volumes are the highest they’ve ever been: the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has already screened 239.8 million travelers since Memorial Day Weekend, which is around 2.7 million per day. And this summer has seen passenger volumes 8.5 percent higher than last year.
The top ten busiest travel days in TSA history have all occurred since May 2024. July 7 was the highest, with over 3 million people screened in TSA security checkpoints during a single day.
The TSA is expecting to screen over 17 million people through the upcoming Labor Day Weekend, which is predicted to be the busiest on record. The busiest travel days are from Thursday, August 29 through Wednesday, September 4. August 30 will be the peak travel day, when the administration expects to screen 2.86 million travelers.
“People are traveling more than ever this summer and TSA along with our airline and airport partners stand ready to close the busiest summer travel period on record during this upcoming Labor Day weekend,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. “I commend our vigilant workforce, from our TSOs on the front lines at airport security checkpoints across the country to those behind the scenes, working hard to keep the transportation system secure—especially as we continue to roll out new checkpoint technology that improves security effectiveness, efficiency, and the passenger experience.”
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