Airline screenings surpass 2 million, the highest level since the pandemic began: TSA

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Labor shortage more noticeable amid holiday weekend travel spike

Fox News' Charles Watson highlights the spike in travel during the holiday weekend from Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Post-pandemic summer travel continues to heat up. 

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Sunday screened more than 2 million travelers at airports – the highest number since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. And Americans can likely expect high wait times at airports through TSA checkpoints as a result. 

The TSA screened approximately 2,097,433 individuals Sunday. (iStock)

TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the agency screened approximately 2,097,433 individuals Sunday at airport security checkpoints, that’s up from the 544,046 passengers screened at the same time period last year.

The number of airport passengers screened earlier this month was just shy of 2 million at 1,984,658, previous data from the TSA shows. The increased travel comes at most Americans become fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

EU RECOMMENDS LIFTING COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS FOR U.S. TOURISTS 

And those numbers are likely to continue soaring, considering the European Union on Wednesday agreed to add the U.S. to a list of countries it would lift restrictions on non-essential travel for. 

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And with the influx of travelers comes the continued need for more airport staffers.  the TSA has hired more than 3,000 employees since January and plans to bring on another 1,000 workers by July 4th with the expectation of having 6,000 new security officers by Labor Day, USA Today reported.