Security Policy Alert: TSA Shares Security Operations Plan for Winter Holiday Travel

December 18, 2025

TSA has shared with AAAE its 2025 Winter Holiday Travel Security Operations Plan, often referred to as their placemat. TSA reviewed that placemat on a call with AAAE and other aviation associations this morning.

In total, TSA expects to screen 43.3 million passengers and crew from December 19, 2025 to January 4, 2026. This represents a checkpoint volume decrease of approximately 1.5% compared to the same period in 2024. Projected Full-Time Equivalents (FTE), not including overtime resources for this Winter Holiday travel period, is 46,500 Transportation Security Officers. This is about a 3.7% decrease compared to the same time last year.

TSA projects 381 on-board Passenger Screening Canine Teams over the Winter Holiday travel period. TSA currently has a total of 124 NDO deployed or scheduled to deploy across 23 airports. The totals on the placemat reflect only TSA’s focus airports.

TSA has also worked with its maintenance contractors who will have all technicians on duty or on-call for the next two weeks. Parts have been fully stocked and expedited shipping has been approved in advance.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need any additional information. Happy holidays