Airlines for America projects this year’s summer air travel to surpass last year’s all-time record by 4 percent. It is expected U.S. airlines will serve around 231.1 million passengers, or 2.51 million passengers per day, June 1–Aug. 31. This is an increase of 95,500 passengers per day over last year. Airlines are keeping up by offering 109,400 more seats than last year. As current trends show, the increase in air travel is attributed to lower prices. “We saw airfares fall throughout 2015 and that trend continued in the first three months of 2016. As airlines compete for passengers across an increasing portfolio of markets, air travel is becoming increasingly affordable and accessible,” said John Heimlich, vice president and chief economist, A4A. Consumers are also showing increased satisfaction with their flight experience overall, but they’re not the only ones pleased with the current travel trends. Airlines also show satisfying profits, despite lower costs. In the first quarter of 2016, U.S. airlines retired $1.3 billion in debt and added 8,000 jobs, bringing airline employment to its highest since 2008. However, with these high levels of air travel comes a large, urgently pressing issue. The Transportation Security Administration is facing severe criticism for its operational procedures, which are resulting in longer lines than ever, causing passengers to miss flights. “It has been a challenging spring with flyers waiting in lines that take more than 60 to 90 minutes to get through security. We encourage TSA to quickly hire and train new staff to help alleviate this problem, and we also encourage more travelers to enroll in TSA PreCheck as we move into another record-setting travel season,” said Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president of legislative and regulatory affairs, A4A. Do you foresee an end to TSA’s issues, or worsening wait times on the horizon? Are you planning additional or above average travel this summer? Email us and let us know. Please include your full name and location with your email.