With the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint seeing six of its 25 busiest days ever in May, it seemed inevitable that the month would be Northwest Arkansas National Airport’s best.

Now, that record month is official, and there’s a high probability that the new record will fall again next month.

XNA saw 117,821 people board its outbound flights to 26 destinations in May. The previous best month was October last year with 109,923.

Leading the way were XNA’s two busiest carriers: American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Both airlines scored their best months at XNA.

American, which carries about half of all XNA travelers, saw 57,264 people board its flights to its nonstop destinations of Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago O’Hare, New York LaGuardia and six other destinations. Its previous best month was October last year.

Delta, which carries about 19% of passengers, had its third terrific month in a row. March had been the airline’s best month with 20,393 boarding, but May’s 23,465 passengers established a new high.

It’s hard to believe XNA won’t keep setting new passenger records, starting this month.

The first half of June has been boosted by people flying to Arkansas for the Walmart shareholders’ celebrations and college baseball fans heading to Fayetteville to see their teams get eliminated by the University of Arkansas. While the second half of the month won’t be as busy, XNA seems likely to end the month with about 125,000 passengers.

By boosting the number of flights and size of planes being used at XNA, it’s the airlines that are making the record-breaking possible.

The airlines have a combined 4,939 seats for sale on an average June day. That’s about 700 more seats than in June 2024.

American has significantly more service this month to Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago and Phoenix compared to a year ago. It added Philadelphia as a new destination in December, and the airline is responsible for 400 of the additional 700 seats.

Delta and low-cost carrier Allegiant Air have increased their activity, too, when compared to June last year.