The Transportation Security Administration has announced the agency screened a record number of passengers nationwide over the Labor Day weekend. From Friday through Monday, airport checkpoints processed approximately 10.4 million travelers, marking a 3.3 percent increase over the same four-day period in 2024.
The Friday before Labor Day was the 15th busiest single day in the agency’s nearly 24-year history, as TSA officers screened nearly 3 million passengers. The agency says it is on track to break its all-time annual passenger volume record at airports nationwide this year, with 8 out of the top 10 busiest travel days reported since May 23.
Reports of rising passenger numbers come in contrast to announcements from some major US carriers, including Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue Airways, which have made significant cuts to their route maps and reduced capacity.
In the latest move, Delta Air Lines has announced plans to permanently discontinue all service to Midland, TX, after November 2025. Delta’s decision was hardly surprising, given the low load factors, and it comes as the airline continues to roll out a flurry of new and expanding offerings on other, more profitable routes.
Delta’s Midland move is part of a larger reshuffling of the deck, as the airline industry adjusts to changing consumer demand and shifting travel patterns. Southwest Airlines, plans to reduce its domestic capacity by 4 percent during the second half of 2025, affecting routes in several key markets, including St. Louis and Atlanta.
American Airlines has also announced a reduction of some 70 weekly flights, a move which will impact some major markets, including Chicago, Washington DC, and certain leisure destinations.
As these larger carriers rearrange routes and fine-tune operations, a couple of low-cost US airlines are making major cuts to respond to their own financial struggles.
For example, JetBlue Airways is reducing its routes and grounding aircraft in an effort to streamline operations. By the end of 2025, the carrier will reportedly have exited 15 cities, impacting service in New York, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, and some smaller markets.
Meanwhile Spirit Airlines has filed for bankruptcy a second time in less than a year. As it struggles to overcome persistent financial uncertainty, the carrier has announced it is slashing its capacity by some 23.8 percent and ending service to nearly a dozen cities across the country.
