The biggest crowds of July 4 holiday travelers since the COVID-19 pandemic jostled their way through U.S. airports this weekend, keeping stress on an already beleaguered transportation system.
The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 4.65 million passengers on Friday and Saturday, about 2.7% more than in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic era of 2019. Some 16,000 flights had been delayed within, into or out of the U.S. since Friday, Flightaware.com was reporting as of 2 p.m. Eastern time Sunday.
Even so, the numbers could have been worse: Only about 1,500 flights were canceled outright for the three days, including 260 as of midday Sunday — largely in line with recent performance. There were no lasting complications from weather, a brief security evacuation of Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, or a temporary software glitch at American Airlines Group Inc. that allowed pilots to drop thousands of flight hours from their July schedules.
