Dec. 2 (UPI) -- This week the Transportation Security Administration saw its busiest day ever in air travel with minimal disruptions, according to reports.
On Sunday, TSA reported the agency had its busiest day with more than 3 million airline passengers screened at U.S. airports by TSA agents for the Thanksgiving holiday season.
Last year, the TSA saw a record 2.32 million travelers and screened about 2.17 million in 2023 the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
It was estimated by TSA that more than 18 million people would travel between Nov. 26 to Dec. 2 in what is one of the year's busiest times to travel.
The first day of December travel beat July 7's previous record by 70,000 more passengers. According to TSA data, the week excluding Dec. 2 saw 15.25 million air travelers but had 12.89 million the same period in 2023.
AAA predicted this year more than 79 million Americans would travel at least 50 miles from home.
Meanwhile, the Airlines for America trade organization claimed the airline industry could expect to see an all-time high of up to 31 million passengers from Nov. 22 to Dec. 2.
The group says in 2019 roughly 28 million people had flown during the same timeframe.
Delta Air Lines indicated the company was looking at an estimated 540,000 people to travel over a 12-day period which was a 5% projected increase from last year. But American Airlines officials said from Nov. 21 to Dec. 3 they were expecting to see approximately 8.3 million travelers.
Only 87 flights were cancelled Sunday. Airlines had an overall completion factor of 99.6% while on-time departures lagged with about only 56% of flights departing on time, AirlineGeeks reported.
On Sunday, American, Delta, United and Southwest airlines had all reported a flight cancellation rate of under 1% while Southwest lead the pack in terms of on-time arrivals at about 88%.
However, Washington's Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had the highest number of reported flight cancelations at 12. Horizon Air -- a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines -- had a 7.25% cancellation rate.
The flight statistics were made public the same day TSA revealed that agents had intercepted and cited an unidentified male passenger on Sunday carrying a 9mm loaded handgun with 15 bullets among his carry-on items.
He now faces a federal civil penalty for bringing a loaded firearm to a TSA checkpoint which can reach a maximum $15,000 penalty.
This year saw the highest number of firearms caught at TSA checkpoints at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the nation's capital.
"Bringing a loaded firearm to a security checkpoint is a serious matter," John Busch, TSA's federal security director at Reagan, said Monday in a release.
According to officials, Reagan's TSA agents caught 37 firearms in 2024 -- although down from 39 in 2023 -- it's still an increase every year since 2018.
"Gun owners especially need to know that they cannot bring a firearm onto a flight with them," Busch said. "A very important part of being a gun owner is knowing where your firearm is at all times and knowing it is not inside a carry-on bag," he added.