TSA Staffing Shortages: Be Prepared to Wait 2 to 4 Hours at Airport Security

Understaffed airports across the US are now being assisted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The White House deployed ICE agents on Monday to help ease the staffing shortages caused by TSA officers who have quit or stopped showing up for work. TSA employees have already missed a full paycheck as a result of the partial government shutdown, and now they could miss a second.

The loss of Transportation Security Administration officers is creating havoc at airports around the country. Some travelers at Hartfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta waited more than two hours in the security area before being allowed to travel to their gates. Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl said the government may need to shut down some airports completely.

Don’t be surprised if you get to the airport and see the security line trailing out into the parking lot. It’s easy to check security wait lines before you leave for the airport, so you know how long it will take to get from check-in to your gate. If you have spring break or other planned air travel coming soon, learn how you can check security line wait times so you can better plan your trip to the airport.

Check the official TSA app

The TSA maintains an app for mobile devices called MyTSA (iOS and Android) that lists security line wait times for airports around the US. The app is fairly basic and now includes a warning that “this website is not actively managed” due to the pause in federal funding, but it does include plenty of official TSA information about airline travel.

To check the wait times for specific US airports, tap the My Airports tab at the bottom of the app, then tap “Search Airports.” You can scroll through the alphabetical list of airports or type in an airport name or code in the search bar at the top.

Airport security times — The TSA app will give you a 15-minute time range for security lines.

Screenshot by CNET

Tap through to the airport of your choice, and you’ll see the estimated security wait time at the top of the screen.

When I checked some of the major US airports Tuesday afternoon — Los Angeles (LAX), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta (ATL), JFK in New York (JFK) and Ronald Reagan in DC (DCA) — most had relatively low wait times of 0 to 15 or 15 to 30 minutes. Only JFK had an estimate of 30 to 45 minutes.

Those estimates are a far cry from the two to four hours that airports are advising travelers to allow, but the times on the MyTSA app mostly matched the times listed on airport websites (see below). The exception was Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, which showed an estimate of 0-15 minutes on the MyTSA app, but slightly longer times on the airport website.

The MyTSA app also includes historical averages for each airport’s security line wait times by time of day.

Check the airport website

When I tested the TSA app, it didn’t list specific terminals at any airports. It only listed a time range for “All Terminals.” If you want that sort of detailed information, your best bet is to use the official airport websites. Most major ones now offer estimated security wait times. Some airports put those estimated times front and center on their websites; others require a little more exploration.

Most airport websites will break out the times for specific terminals. At some bigger airports, there’s often quite a disparity between the terminals. Here are the web pages for estimated security wait lines for some of the most frequently traveled airports in the US:

I wasn’t able to find security line wait times on the websites for two of the busiest airports: O’Hare (ORD) in Chicago and Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas. For those, you’ll need to use the TSA app.

Save your spot in the security line

Numerous airports now allow travelers to reserve a specific time in the security line. At SeaTac Airport in Seattle, you make a Spot Saver reservation and go to a specially marked entrance to the security checkpoint listed on your reservation. An employee scans the barcode you were emailed, and you’re ushered to the front. At SeaTac, you can be up to 15 minutes before or after your Spot Saver reservation, since airport timing is tough to estimate.

Here’s a list of some of those reservation sites. You can search for your airport name and “reserve security line spot” or something similar to see if your airport also has a program.