Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport among Major Hubs with the Shortest TSA Lines

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona has the ninth-shortest TSA security line of any large airport hub in America, a new study has revealed. Thursday is the busiest day to go through security at Phoenix, while Tuesday is the quietest.  

Data collection experts SOAX analyzed data from Qsensor on security wait times at America’s 31 largest airport hubs, which had over 10 million passengers in 2023. TSA wait times were gathered for each hour of each day of the week, creating an average for each airport and highlighting the busiest and least busy times to go through security. 

Table: America’s largest airport hubs with the shortest wait times at security

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona ranks ninth. The average TSA queue in Phoenix is six minutes and 56 seconds. Thursday is the busiest day, and Tuesday is the quietest. Around 7 AM is the worst time for long TSA lines, with travelers waiting an average of nine minutes and 51 seconds.   

O’Hare International Airport in Chicago topped the study with an average TSA wait time of two minutes and eight seconds. Sundays are the busiest days for security lines, while Wednesdays are the quietest. If you arrive at the airport at 12 PM or 5 PM, you will endure the longest security lines, with the average wait time reaching four minutes and 17 seconds. In contrast, 9 PM to 3 AM is the quietest time to go through security, with no wait on average.   

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas has the second-shortest security line on average of any major airport hub in America. Passengers traveling through the airport spend around three minutes and 49 seconds queuing in the TSA line, less than almost any other large airport nationwide. Thursday is the busiest day for security lines at the airport, while Tuesday is when the queues are likely to be the shortest. Around 6 AM is the busiest time to visit, when the security line wait time averages seven minutes.   

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport ranked third for short security lines, averaging a wait of four minutes and 18 seconds. Traveling on a Friday is the best way to get a shorter TSA line at Reagan National Airport. Wednesday is the busiest day for waiting at security. If you want to avoid the busiest hours, going through security around 7 AM will see you endure peak wait times, averaging six minutes and 34 seconds. Meanwhile, the lines are at their shortest between 11 PM and 4 AM, when passengers average no wait.  

LaGuardia Airport in New York took the fourth spot with an average wait of five minutes and 14 seconds. Like Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the busiest day for TSA lines at LaGuardia is Wednesday, with Friday ranking as the quietest day at security. The security line is longest around 12 PM (nine minutes and 51 seconds) and shortest at 1 AM (one minute).   

Detroit Metropolitan Airport rounds out the five large airport hubs with the shortest security lines. On an average day at Detroit Metro, passengers queue for five minutes and 30 seconds at security, while on the busiest days (Sundays), they wait for six minutes and 15 seconds. On the contrary, Monday is the quietest day for TSA lines, with the average wait being four minutes and 48 seconds. The longest security lines can be found at 6 AM, with travelers waiting an average of 11 minutes.   

Dulles International Airport placed sixth overall in the study. The average TSA wait time is five minutes and 54 seconds, with Sunday named the busiest day for long lines and Monday the quietest. If you arrive at Dulles around 7 AM, the average security line is the longest at 10 minutes and 43 seconds, while going through TSA at 3 AM will see you wait just two minutes and 43 seconds.  

Despite having 10 million more passengers in 2023 than any other airport in America, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has the seventh shortest security lines on average, at six minutes and five seconds. However, traveling on Sunday, the busiest day for TSA lines, sees the average wait climb to seven minutes and 15 seconds. Meanwhile, on Fridays and Saturdays, the average wait falls to just five minutes and eight seconds.   

Philadelphia International Airport secured the eighth spot in the study. The average wait time for waiting in line at airport security is six minutes and 23 seconds, rising to seven minutes and 43 seconds on the busiest days (Wednesday) and falling to five minutes and 23 seconds on the quietest days (Saturday). Around 5 PM, the security lines are the longest, with passengers waiting an average of 12 minutes and 34 seconds.

Miami International Airport is the final location to feature among the 10 major American airport hubs with the shortest security lines. On average, passengers queue for seven minutes at security in the airport, with the wait time reaching seven minutes and 53 seconds on Tuesdays, the busiest day. The longest lines can be found around 7 AM, when the average wait is 10 minutes and 51 seconds, whereas travelers experience a wait time of two minutes at midnight.

Table: America’s largest airport hubs with the longest TSA security lines

Of the 31 largest hubs studied, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida has the longest average wait time (15 minutes and 27 seconds), closely followed by Charlotte Douglas International Airport (15 minutes and six seconds).   

Stepan Solovev, CEO and Co-founder of SOAX, commented on the findings: “With America’s 31 large airport hubs welcoming over 10 million passengers in 2023, it is interesting to see the average security lines rarely exceed 20 minutes even on the busiest days.   

“While this varies for each airport, the busiest day for security lines is Wednesday, and the quietest is Saturday. Around 6 AM is when you’ll find the longest lines, with the average traveler waiting 13 minutes and four seconds.  

“The length of time you wait at security can be heavily reliant on factors out of your control like staff shortages, contraband, and more, but you can do a few things to help speed up your wait.   

“First, check if your airport offers screening times. By reserving a screening time, you can skip the regular security queue for free and head to the front of the line. You can also opt for paid services like airline fast track and TSA pre-check to speed up the process, or have your electronics, liquids, and more ready to be stored correctly for a swift screening.”