This Fourth of July holiday weekend is forecast by AAA to be the second-busiest for travel since 2000, with 47.9 million Americans taking trips, reports ABC News. For air travel, Friday, July 1 is predicted to be the busiest, while Monday, July 4 will be the lightest. According to AAA data, the top domestic flight destinations for the holiday are Anaheim, Anchorage, Chicago, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Honolulu, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, and Seattle. The TSA recommends allowing extra time to get to the airport and to check in, check bags, and complete security screening. For road travel, the afternoons of Thursday, June 30 and Friday, July 1 are predicted to have the most traffic, as commuters leave work early and mix with holiday travelers. According to analytics company INRIX, the best times to travel on those day are early morning and after 8:00 pm. The best days for road travel are predicted to be July 3 and July 4.

United Airlines is cutting dozens of flights from its Newark hub, becoming the latest airline to preemptively reduce its summer schedule to avoid delays amid recent mass cancellations, reports Travel + Leisure. Beginning July 1, United will cut 50 domestic flights from Newark Liberty International Airport, reducing frequency to several destinations. These cuts represent roughly 12% of the airline's Newark schedule and the airline is "proactively reaching out to customers" who are affected by the cancellations. In an internal memo, the airline stated, “Even though we have the planes, pilots, crews, and staff to support our Newark schedule, this waiver […] should help minimize excessive delays and improve on-time performance – not only for our customers, but for everyone flying through Newark.” United is the latest airline to preemptively cut flights heading into the busy summer travel season, joining Delta Air Lines and JetBlue, which also reduced some of their schedules.

Travelers at dozens of US airports no longer need to show their boarding passes to TSA officers, eliminating an item that travelers need in order to get through security, reports Condé Nast Traveler. This change is due to a piece of equipment, called a credential authentication technology (CAT) scanner, which is programmed to digitally process a traveler's ID and match their biographical information against the Secure Flight database in real time. Travelers either hand their ID to the TSA officer at the podium or insert it into the scanner themselves, depending on the airport. TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers stated, “There is no need for a boarding pass at this point since the Secure Flight database contains the names and flight details for people ticketed to travel in the next 24 hours.” The TSA states is has so far deployed 90 scanners that are “modified and equipped to read and verify digital identification,” including Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Boston Logan International, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports, Los Angeles International Airport, New York's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, and both airports in Washington, DC.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG management has apologized for the disruptions and cancellations impacting the global aviation industry and cautioned the situation won’t immediately improve as carriers and airports rebuild operations from the pandemic, reports Bloomberg. In a letter sent to customers, Europe’s largest airline group outlined the causes of the disruptions, citing a lack of staff and the war in Ukraine, which has created “massive bottlenecks in the skies.” In its letter, Lufthansa stated, “We can only apologize to you for this […] In the coming weeks, as passenger numbers continue to rise, be it for leisure or business travel, the situation is unlikely to improve in the short term.” Lufthansa has cancelled 3,100 flights after COVID-19 infections worsened personnel shortages as the crucial summer vacation period gets under way. The carrier said global aviation is reaching the limits of available resources, further predicting that the hiring push will only have a stabilizing effect this coming winter.

After two years, the South African government announced on June 22 that it was removing all of its pandemic-era restrictions, reports Travel Pulse. For international travelers, the primary change is the elimination of vaccination and testing requirements for entry into the country; other changes include the lifting of South Africa’s indoor mask mandates, limits on gathering sizes, and the elimination of COVID-19 border checks. There are now no longer constraints on live social events, business meetings, conferences, and exhibitions, paving the way for the return of delegates, exhibitors, and business travelers. The change comes after South Africa’s Presidential Coordinating Council and Cabinet determined that their purpose was served and were therefore no longer needed. Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla stated, “Today is a very historic day as we have reached a turning point since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the world and in the country.”