USA’s secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem has announced a more than US$1bn investment in airport security upgrades, which will fund updated training and enable the procurement of new screening technology at airports across the USA.
Both baggage and people screening equipment will be included, alongside new training programs to help airport employees target and prevent threats and an increase in the number of K9 units (dog and handler) at checkpoints, with Noem describing the funding as “the biggest investment in screening technologies that we’ve seen in years”.
The announcement comes as the Transportation Security Administration prepares to screen more than 17.8 million people between Tuesday, November 25 and Tuesday, December 2, including more than three million on Sunday, November 30 alone.
The projected figures would make the Sunday after Thanksgiving one of the busiest travel days in TSA history. More than three million travelers were screened on nine of the top 10 highest volume days in TSA’s history – with eight of the highest volume days occurring in 2025 alone. TSA’s current daily volume in 2025 is about 2.48 million, compared to 2.47 million in 2024, which represents a daily increase of about 14,000 travelers in 2025 over 2024.
In related news, TSA seeks information on turnkey screening solutions