DES MOINES, Iowa — Last month, TSA had its busiest day ever with a record high of more than 2.9 million passengers screened at airport security checkpoints nationwide on the Sunday following Thanksgiving.
Now, this week is expected to be another busy one for holiday travel.
TSA is projecting Thursday, Dec. 21 will be one of the busiest days of travel throughout this period, as well as Friday, Dec. 29 and New Year’s Day on Monday, Jan. 1 — with over 2.5 million projected travelers each of those days, a 6% increase from 2022.
AAA predicted this holiday season will be the busiest ever for air travel, with 7.5 million people projected to fly between Saturday, Dec. 23 and New Year’s Day.
That would break the 2019 record of 7.3 million passengers.
Delta and United both said they are expecting nearly 9 million customers from Dec. 21 to Jan. 7.
Des Moines International Airport Deputy Director of Communications and Air Service Development Kayla Kovarna said the airport has “already begun to see an influx of travelers this week.”
Kovarna said between Dec. 21 and the 26, there are over 30,000 available seats and they expect most of those seats to be full.
Compared to 2022, that’s a 9% increase in the number of departures from DSM.
There are 27 nonstop destinations and countless connections are being served in December.
Kovarna and other air officials said some important reminders for people traveling this holiday season include arriving early, having ID ready to go and forgoing wrapping packages until you reach your final destination.
For people driving over the holidays, expect roads to be busy.
AAA predicts nearly 104 million people will travel 50 miles or more by car.
Saturday, Dec. 23 and Thursday, Dec. 28 are likely to be the most congested days on roads.
AAA recommends the best time to hit the roads are before lunch time or after 7 p.m.