TSA Shares Winter Travel Security Operations Plan

December 19, 2023

On December 19, TSA shared with AAAE its updated 2023 Winter Travel Security Operations Plan, often referred to as a "placemat" for the busy holiday travel period. TSA is defining the winter holiday travel period as December 21, 2023, through January 2, 2024, and expects to screen 29.5 million passengers and crew during that time. This represents a checkpoint volume increase of approximately 6.4 percent compared to 2022. The busiest days are projected to be Thursday, December 21, Friday, December 29 and Monday, January 1.
 
The placemat details the volume mitigation measures that TSA will have in place at selected high-volume airports, including:
• 45,173 Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), which is about a 1.9 percent increase compared to the same time last year;
• 335 Passenger Screening Canine teams; and,
• 385 National Deployment Officers (NDOs) deployed or scheduled to deploy across 47 airports.
TSA also informed AAAE that the agency has worked closely with security equipment manufacturers and maintenance personnel to minimize the impact of any screening equipment issues and ensure parts and personnel are readily available as needed. All equipment maintenance technicians will either be on-duty or on-call during the winter holiday travel period.
 
The agency published a press release advising travelers that TSA is prepared for the higher volumes over the winter holiday travel period and providing tips to make the travel and screening experience smooth and efficient.
 
As always, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need any additional information.