CHICAGO — A momentary failure inside Amazon Web Services’ US-EAST-1 region rippled through airline reservation systems early Monday, leaving Chicago-based United Airlines passengers unable to complete routine online tasks such as check-in, seat selection and prepaid bag drop for several hours.
Regulars at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport know the TSA PreCheck lanes like the back of their hand, yet thousands of local travelers are suddenly finding four ominous letters—SSSS—printed on their boarding passes.
Surprise extra screening at ATL? Here’s why “SSSS” keeps popping up on boarding passes—and what savvy travelers can do about it.
If your next flight out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport suddenly shows the cryptic code **SSSS**, you’ve just been tapped for the Transportation Security Administration’s heightened security check.
WASHINGTON — Travelers from Malawi and Zambia eyeing a trip to the United States will soon face an extra—and potentially costly—step in the visa process. Under a State Department pilot program scheduled to start Aug. 20, applicants for short-term B-1 business and B-2 tourism visas may be asked to post a bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 before setting foot on American soil.
ATLANTA — Thunderstorms sweeping across the East Coast and Florida threaten to upend what forecasters say will be the heaviest week of Independence Day air traffic in a decade and a half, according to figures and forecasts as reported by NBC News. The weather worries come on top of already eye-popping travel projections from the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration and AAA.
American airports are preparing for an unprecedented surge in holiday travelers. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says six of its 10 busiest days ever have fallen in 2025, underscoring just how quickly air travel has rebounded. On June 22, agents screened nearly 3.1 million people—more passengers than on any other single day in the agency’s 23-year history. That momentum rolled straight into the Independence Day window, with June 27 and June 29 now ranking seventh and eighth on the all-time list.
