The Thanksgiving travel rush is expected to be bigger than ever this year.

The last-minute Thanksgiving travelers are packing their cars and carry-on bags to hit the nation's highways and airports.

Airports, highways, beaches and theme parks are expected to be packed across the U.S. this Labor Day weekend as a lot Americans mark the unofficial end of summer the same way they celebrated the season’s unofficial start: by traveling.

TSA officers at Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport prevented a Roanoke man from boarding his flight with a loaded gun July 3.

Agents for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration on Sunday screened 3 million airline passengers in a single day for the first time ever.

A long Fourth of July holiday weekend in the United States is expected to create new travel records.

The Fourth of July is right around the corner, and the travel rush is already heating up.

If you think airports are crowded this summer, it's not your imagination.

A record was broken ahead of the Memorial Day weekend for the number of airline travelers screened at U.S. airports.

Airport security officers in Miami found a slithering surprise last week.

A bipartisan group of senators wants restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology by the Transportation Security Administration.

TSA officers stopped a Blue Ridge man from bringing a gun past the security checkpoint at Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport on Thursday, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

A Roanoke man was caught trying to bring a loaded gun past the security checkpoint at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport on Wednesday, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

The U.S. government has started requiring migrants without passports to submit to facial recognition technology to take domestic flights under a change that prompted confusion this week among immigrants and advocacy groups in Texas.

Federal airport security officials have unveiled a prototype passenger self-screening system at busy Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas but say they do not plan to use it in other cities around the country.

Federal and local officials say they're taking steps to crimp counterfeiting, ground drones and curb human trafficking during Super Bowl week in Las Vegas.

A Bedford County man tried to bring a loaded gun onto a flight on Dec. 26, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

The holiday travel rush is hitting its peak as mild weather and lower flight cancelation rates raise hopes for merrier drivers and airline passengers than last year.

The Transportation Security Administration says security officers found 17 bullets concealed inside a disposable baby diaper at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

Airports and highways are expected to be busier this Christmas season than they were a year ago.

A record number of passengers traveled through U.S. airports over Thanksgiving weekend, the Transportation Security Administration said Monday.

Holiday travelers are starting their final sprint.

A Lynchburg man is facing a stiff financial civil penalty after attempting to bring a loaded gun onto a flight at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Sunday, according to the TSA.

Across the country, federal workers still stung by memories of past government shutdowns are bracing for the possibility of another extended closure.

The agency tasked with securing America's airports is testing the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country.

As travel ramps up for the spring and summer seasons, TSA is looking to fill empty positions across the country.

Congress is taking another look at creating a new no-fly list for unruly passengers.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is looking to hire more people ahead of the busy travel season.

Last year saw a record number of guns intercepted at airport checkpoints across the country.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers stopped an Arkansas man from bringing a loaded handgun onto a flight at Lynchburg Regional Airport.

Power was briefly knocked out at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday afternoon, leaving many passengers at one of the world’s busiest airports in the dark and halting security checks.

The Richmond International Airport made it to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Top 10 list of most unusual items discovered at security checkpoints nationwide in 2022.

The federal agency tasked with airport security says so far this year officers have stopped a record number of guns going through airport security.

The Transportation Security Administration is raising the fine for people caught with a firearm in their carry-on bag.

Don’t accuse the TSA of catnapping on the job.

The Transportation Security Administration is preparing for a busy holiday travel season.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stopped a Roanoke County man from bringing a loaded gun through ROA security Wednesday.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers stopped a Pulaski County woman from bringing a loaded gun onto her flight Tuesday.

This Labor Day weekend, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened 8.76 million travelers, the first time a holiday weekend travel exceeds numbers from 2019.

Air travelers are finally getting a break on fares.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers stopped an Alabama man from bringing a loaded handgun onto a flight at Lynchburg Regional Airport.

The fireworks are still a few days away, but travel for the July Fourth weekend is off to a booming start.

Airlines are canceling more than 1,500 flights across the U.S. in one of the worst days yet in the summer travel season.

The people who screen your bag at the airport are expecting big crowds this summer.

U.S. health officials are restating their recommendation that Americans wear masks on planes, trains and buses, despite a court ruling last month that struck down a national mask mandate on public transportation.

The Justice Department is filing an appeal seeking to overturn a judge’s order that voided the federal mask mandate on planes and trains and in travel hubs.

A poll finds that a majority of people in the United States continue to support a mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other shared transportation.

The Biden administration has announced it will extend through May 3 the nationwide mask requirement for airplanes and public transit as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

The Biden administration says U.S. airport security procedures will become more gender-neutral.

After the last couple years of living through a global pandemic, it seems as though most of us are itching to get in some good travel time.

Federal officials are extending the requirement for masks on planes and public transportation through mid-April while taking steps that could lead to lifting the rule.

There has been a surge in guns being discovered at airport checkpoints.

Delta Air Lines has told the U.S. Department of Justice that any person convicted of a disruption on board a flight should be put on the national “no fly” list.

Newly released video shows a security officer leaping over conveyor belt rollers and saving a 2-month-old boy who stopped breathing at a New Jersey airport security checkpoint.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) introduced a Readiness Incentive Bonus this year that provides TSOs with bonuses of up to $500 per month.

Authorities say a passenger awaiting a bag search at the Atlanta airport’s main security checkpoint reached in the bag and grabbed a firearm, and it went off, causing chaos among travelers.

The number of airline passengers traveling for Thanksgiving this year is expected to rebound to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, but the Transportation Security Administration says it is ready to handle the surge.

A Troutville, Virginia man was charged after police stopped him from bringing his 9mm handgun onto his flight at the Washington Dulles International Airport on Thursday.

If you're flying on a plane or taking a train, be ready to keep wearing that face mask for a few more months.

Air travel in the United States hit another pandemic-era record over the weekend as vacationers jammed airports, but shares of airlines, cruise lines, hotels and almost anything else related to travel are tumbling on growing concerns about highly contagious variants of coronavirus.

The Transportation Security Administration says that it prevented a Virginia woman from carrying a loaded handgun onto a flight departing from Richmond International Airport.

The airline industry’s recovery from the pandemic passed a milestone as more than 2 million people streamed through U.S. airport security checkpoints on Friday for the first time since early March 2020.

The Biden administration says it is moving to increase the pay and union rights for security screeners at the nation’s airports.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says people traveling for Memorial Day weekend should be patient because there will be long lines at U.S. airports.

The federal government will issue cybersecurity regulations in the coming days for U.S. pipeline operators following a ransomware attack that led to fuel shortages across much of the Eastern Seaboard.

If you're traveling over the Memorial Day weekend, expect lots of company.

Mother's Day weekend meant bigger crowds at U.S. airports.

The federal government is extending the requirement that travelers wear face masks on planes, trains and buses.

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)Across the United States, air travel is recovering more quickly from the depths of the pandemic, and it is showing up in longer airport security lines and busier traffic on airline websites. "Our last three weeks have been the best three weeks since the pandemic hit, and each week has been better than the one prior,” American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said Monday. However, the airlines still have far to go before travel fully returns to pre-pandemic levels. Since the pandemic hit, air travel has picked up a few times — mostly around holidays — only to drop back down. The airline said people are booking leisure trips to beach and mountain destinations but business travel is still lagging.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University issued a quarantine order for all of its undergraduates effective Saturday night due to a coronavirus outbreak caused by students who attended recruitment parties, the school said. The university said in a statement that all undergraduate students will be forced to stay-in-place until at least March 21. Suspension or dismissal from the school are potential punishments for “flagrant or repeat violators.”Over the past week, the school has reported more than 180 positive coronavirus cases among students. AdItaly has now tallied some 3.2 million cases in the pandemic. The COVAX alliance aims to share COVID-19 vaccines with more than 90 lower and middle-income nations.

Spring is quickly approaching which means some people are already marking their calendars for vacation. Don’t bring prohibited items:Take a look at the “What Can I Bring?” guide and see what you can and can’t bring to limit physical contact with TSA officers. AdBring needed items for security checkpoint:You will need your I.D. and liquids can’t be more than 3.4 ounces. Don’t bring a gun to checkpoints:Guns must be declared to the airline and packed in a locked, crushproof container.

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)HOUSTON – The Transportation Security Administration said Friday that it has changed language in its face mask requirement to include specific fines -- which could range from $250 to $1,500 or more -- for people who refuse to wear a mask while traveling. Based on substantial aggravating or mitigating factors, TSA may seek a sanction amount that falls outside these ranges. TSA has provided transportation system operators specific guidance on how to report violations so that TSA may issue penalties to those who refuse to wear a face mask. The requirement extends to wearing masks in airports, bus and rail stations, as well as while on planes, public transportation, passenger railroads, and buses. Read more in the news release from TSA.

Federal safety officials are investigating people who took part in last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol to decide whether they belong on the federal no-fly list. The assessments are one of several steps federal agencies are taking to increase security before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week. The assessments could result in rioters being added to the federal no-fly list, the person said. The FBI said earlier this week it was considering adding Capitol rioters to the federal no-fly list but stopped short of saying that individuals were being scrutinized. Airlines and Washington-area airports also have promised tighter security after last week’s riot at the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump.

Administrative worker Sander Edmondson, left, hands a COVID-19 testing kit to a woman at a testing site in Los Angeles, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Here’s what’s happening Monday with the pandemic in the U.S.:THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY— A huge study of another COVID-19 vaccine candidate is getting underway Monday as states continue to roll out scarce supplies of the nation’s first shots. Some 30,000 volunteers are needed to prove if this vaccine — a different kind than its Pfizer and Moderna competitors — really works and is safe. — Homicides in Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and other U.S. cities have topped 2019 numbers as violence surged during the coronavirus pandemic. ___Find AP’s full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)BEIJING — Authorities in China’s northeastern port city of Dalian are testing millions of residents after seven new coronavirus cases were reported there in the last 24 hours. It has a deal to secure up to 100 million doses of the potential vaccine produced by AstraZeneca. Koca said the first shipment of three million doses of CoronaVac would be shipped to Turkey on Sunday and arrive Monday. He said Turkey could get 4.5 million doses until the end of March and would have the option buy up to 30 million doses. Indonesia has reported nearly 700,000 COVID-19 cases, the largest caseload in Southeast Asia and second in Asia only to India’s 10.1 million confirmed cases.

The Transportation Security Administration screened at least 1 million people on four of the last 10 days through Sunday. That's still half the crowd recorded last year at airports, when more than 2 million people were counted per day. With new reported cases of coronavirus spiking across the country, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had issued a warning against Thanksgiving travel just a week before the holiday. It's unclear whether the pleas of experts like Fauci had any effect on travel and large gatherings at Thanksgiving. On Monday, JetBlue Airways said “booking trends remain volatile,” and a recovery in travel demand will be uneven into next year.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Millions of Americans bought tickets to fly somewhere for Thanksgiving before the nation’s top public health agency pleaded with them not to travel for the holiday. That's despite relatively lenient cancellation policies that major airlines have implemented since the coronavirus pandemic emerged earlier this year. Images that emerged this weekend of crowded airport terminals showed that plenty of people are flying anyway. A day earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Americans should skip Thanksgiving travel and not spend the holiday with people from outside their household. But most are also offering opportunities for people to skip their holiday flights and travel later, though travelers might have to pay more for the replacement flight if it's more expensive.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)With air traffic nearing a five-month high, airport security is finding guns in passenger carry-on bags at three times the rate recorded before the pandemic. There has been a significant increase in loaded guns at checkpoints, said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. Last year, 4,432 guns were found in carry-on bags, or about 12.1 per day, and 87% were loaded. TSA's public appeal to follow gun rules came the same day that it reported screening 831,789 people on Sunday. It was the first time checkpoint traffic in U.S. airports has topped 800,000 since March 17.

The top TSA official in Kansas, Jay Brainard, says the TSAs actions amount to gross mismanagement." The special counsel has ordered TSA's parent agency, the Homeland Security Department, to conduct an investigation. Brainard filed his whistleblower complaint on June 3, and the special counsel on Thursday ordered the Homeland Security Department to investigate the allegations. By law, the special counsel only takes that step when it believes there is a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing. The special counsel will review Homeland Securitys findings and issue a report to the White House and Congress.

Five restaurants continue to operate with enhanced off-premise service only, while nine restaurants remain temporarily closed. Transactions at fast food restaurants were down 17% the week of May 24, while transactions at sit-down chains were down 49%. CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS & BANKS: Spains national statistics office said that it received zero international tourists in April. That compares with 7 million tourists that spent 7 billion euros ($7.8 billion) in Spain in the prior-year period. Istanbuls 15th century Grand Bazaar, museums, gyms, child care centers and nurseries, were among other venues allowed to resume operations.

The chain began to reopen stores earlier this month and expects most stores to be open in mid-June. TJX Canada began reopening stores in some provinces this week, and stores in Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Australia are fully open. Victorias Secret said Thursday its closing 250 stores in the next few months, about a quarter of all its stores. The sales drop was the largest one-month decline since a 22.5% fall in July 2010. The Finance Ministry said imports fell 7% to 6.1 trillion yen ($57 billion) from 6.6 trillion yen.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Transportation Security Administration said Sunday it has stopped allowing employees to use the China-owned video app TikTok to create social media posts for the agency after the Senate’s top Democrat raised concerns about potential national security issues. Schumer also cited a Department of Homeland Security policy prohibiting TikTok on agency devices. He also noted in the letter that Chinese laws compel companies to cooperate with China’s government and intelligence collection. Over the past few months, the agency has posted a number of videos reshared on other social media platforms such as Twitter, which have amassed hundreds of thousands of views. The agency said it never directed viewers to TikTok or published content directly to the platform, despite videos reposted on other TSA social media accounts having the TikTok logo in the bottom of the screen.

Were now just under the one-year mark before REAL ID enforcement begins in the United States. What about an enhanced license? Answering your REAL ID questions | Got a gold star on your license? The time to prepare is now.Preparing, by the way, might be as simple as opening your wallet and taking a peek at your current drivers license. Heres what you want to look for:Photo: tsa.govIf you have an enhanced license, youre all set.

The Transportation Security Administration says an official discovered a loaded handgun in a carry-on bag at a Virginia airport. Copyright 2019 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.

ROANOKE, Va. - UPDATEThe screening equipment has been repaired and is working again. Transportation Security Administration screening equipment is temporarily down at Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport, according to airport officials. Officials ask travelers to allow for additional travel time for check-in and screening, as TSA officials will have to manually screen baggage. Airport officials say a technician is en route for repairs, but they don't know at this time when the problem will be fixed. Copyright 2019 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.

Delta Airlines via CNN(CNN) - Authorities are investigating how a woman managed to board a Delta Air Lines flight from Orlando to Atlanta without identification or a boarding pass. The Orlando Police Department said in a statement that officers responded to a suspicious person report Saturday morning at the airport. Officers asked the passenger for identification and for her boarding pass. She said she had thrown her ticket away and did not have Identification, the police statement said. Delta Air Lines apologized to Flight 1516 passengers in a statement "for the delay after a person not ticketed for that flight was removed from the aircraft."

Neil Chatterjee, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, warned that an attack on even a single US natural gas pipeline could cause mass blackouts. "Today, we have eight or nine generators depending on a single gas pipeline." TSA's pipeline security branch has just six full-time employeesThe Government Accountability Office has recently identified "weaknesses" in TSA's pipeline security program, including severe staffing limitations that prevented the agency from conducting security reviews. The GAO found that the pipeline security branch employed just six full-time employees last year. The GAO also found that the pipeline security branch has not updated its risk assessment on the top 100 critical pipeline systems since 2014.

While most of these items can travel in checked luggage, none of them are allowed in carry-on luggage, said Lorie Dankers, a spokesperson for TSA. We have not allowed knives since the inception of TSA. Between 42,000 and 63,000 passengers pass through TSA checkpoints at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport each day, she said. Of those 253 firearms, 225 were loaded and 84 had a round in the chamber, according to the TSA Blog. Seven of those firearms -- all loaded, four with a round in the chamber -- were found in carry-on bags at Phoenix Sky Harbor, according to the blog post.

Instead of ending the program, TSA abruptly made changes to the program on Saturday that include additional requirements to qualify for the special flight crew screening. The Known Crewmember Program, which was developed in 2011, typically allows many pilots and flight attendants to bypass the standard airport security lanes. Starting Wednesday, pilots and flight attendants "will be required to wear uniforms" to qualify, according to the program's website. The message on the program's website also suggested TSA will step up its use of random security measures to further screen pilots and flight attendants. The program changes came after CNN asked the agency on Friday about the audit and possible vulnerabilities.

These look niceAnd then there are these flowers, pictured above, which were found at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in late July. Knives, by the way, are allowed in your checked bag. I can guarantee that the civil penalty will be more than the cost of a checked bag, Wagner said. Pictured above, bottom row are:An empty grenade, found in a screening at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on July 25. "The most common explanation we hear from travelers for prohibited items is 'I forgot it was in my bag,'" Wagner wrote.

Two Transportation Security Administration officers have been placed on leave after a racist display was found inside a TSA workstation at Miami International Airport. (CNN) - Two Transportation Security Administration officers have been placed on leave after a racist display was found inside a TSA workstation at Miami International Airport. Three TSA officers discovered two stuffed gorillas tied together and hanging with a noose on July 21, according to four TSA employees with knowledge of the situation and a picture obtained by CNN. A veteran Miami TSA officer who asked that his name not be used for fear of retaliation said he was upset about the incident, which he says has many of Miami International Airport's black and Hispanic TSA officers distraught. "Two TSA officers have been placed on administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing."

TSA via CNN(CNN) - TSA agents are used to finding strange and alarming objects in travelers' luggage, whether it's snakes, switchblades or swords. The latest addition to that list: a missile launcher. The agents at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport made the discovery Monday in the checked bag of a man who was coming back from Kuwait. Unfortunately for would-be souvenir hunters, the TSA notes that "Military weapons are not permitted in checked or carry-on bags." The missile launcher was given to the state fire marshal for disposal, and the man was released in time to catch his flight.

A toddler broke his hand after clambering onto a luggage belt and taking a tumbling trip into the bowels of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The 2-year-old's frantic mother said she had been printing out a Spirit Airlines boarding pass when her child, Lorenzo, ran off and bolted behind an unstaffed ticket counter, then flung himself on the moving conveyor belt. I hope he's OK. I hope he's just enjoying the ride.''' Two employees enter the frame of the video just as the toddler slips from view, pointing and trying to see where the child went.

LEXINGTON, Va. - A Lexington man was stopped with a loaded handgun at Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport on Monday, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Authorities say the .32-caliber handgun was loaded with six bullets and was found inside the man's carry-on by a TSA officer staffing the checkpoint X-ray monitorTSA officials say they notified airport police, who took the gun and cited the man on a weapons charge. This marks the second gun that TSA officers have found at the airport so far this year. To learn more about traveling with a gun, visit the TSA website. Copyright 2019 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.