McGhee Tyson Airport, after breaking its summer passenger record, is gearing up for what the federal government believes will be the busiest Labor Day travel weekend in more than a decade.
The Federal Aviation Administration anticipates Sept. 3 to be the busiest travel day of the week, with nearly 54,000 flights expected across the country.
Nearly 53,000 flights are expected Sept. 4, according to an FAA travel forecast posted to X, before estimates dip to around 40,000 flights Sept. 5 and 6. The FAA anticipates a spike Sept. 7 and 8, with about 47,000 flights expected each day.
McGhee Tyson has experienced heightened demand all summer, surpassing its 2025 passenger totals each month in 2026. The Knoxville airport set an all-time monthly record
in June with 385,000 passengers, Vice President of Air Service Development Jim Evans said during a late August airport board meeting.
Most summer flights serving Knoxville were full, Evans said, with about 83% of seats sold for flights departing or arriving at McGhee Tyson. August numbers were still coming in at the time, but Evans said the airport − one of the fastest growing in the country − was on pace to set a record for that month, too.
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Summer travel at McGhee Tyson rose close to 10% in 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. The summer season, when children are out of school and people are taking vacations, typically is among the busiest times for U.S. airports, behind popular holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Airlines operating in Knoxville are “very happy” with their new numbers, Evans said, with Denver-based Frontier Airlines being a notable exception. The airline felt the Denver market "had become too competitive," Evans said, and stopped serving East Tennessee on Aug. 17.
But with the addition of Southwest Airlines, which debuted at McGhee Tyson in March, the Knoxville airport is poised to crack more records through 2026.
September should be a strong month, Evans said, as the FAA anticipates the busiest Labor Day travel weekend in 15 years. But Knoxville airport leaders expect the next big peak for McGhee Tyson to come in October.
“We don’t really think we’ve hit our cap yet,” he said.
Mariah Franklin reports on technology and energy for Knox News. Email: mariah.franklin@knoxnews.com. Signal: mariahfranklin.01
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: McGhee Tyson just had a record summer. Labor Day could be even busier
