While it’s important to get to any airport early, some flight hubs are notorious for taking an age to move through security lines and passport control.
Ahead of the holiday travel season, luggage storage company Bounce has ranked the airports with the longest wait times
To determine which airports had the longest waits, Bounce analyzed the average times for security screening and passport clearance at airports across the country in 2024, sourcing the info from the US Customs and Border Protection Airport Wait Times and TSA Wait Times respectively.
The 10 airports with the longest wait times in the US :
| Rank | Airport | State/Territory | Average TSA Wait Time | Average Passport Control Wait Time | Average Combined Wait Time |
| 1 | John F. Kennedy International Airport | New York | 15:05 | 24:43 | 39:48 |
| 2 | Orlando International Airport | Florida | 15:34 | 23:42 | 39:16 |
| 3 | O’Hare International Airport | Illinois | 11:53 | 25:59 | 37:52 |
| 4 | Los Angeles International Airport | California | 11:32 | 23:53 | 35:25 |
| 5 | Austin–Bergstrom International Airport | Texas | 15:53 | 19:29 | 35:22 |
| 6 | Miami International Airport | Florida | 14:40 | 20:19 | 34:59 |
| 7 | San Francisco International Airport | California | 12:43 | 21:01 | 33:44 |
| 8 | George Bush Intercontinental Airport | Texas | 13:53 | 19:16 | 33:09 |
| 9 | Ontario International Airport | California | 13:32 | 19:35 | 33:07 |
| 10 | Salt Lake City International Airport | Utah | 15:17 |
The airport with the shortest wait time, per the study, was Palm Beach International Airport in Florida with a combined time of seven minutes and 27 seconds.
Top 10 airports with the shortest wait times:
| Rank | Airport | State/Territory | Average TSA Wait Time | Average Passport Control Wait Time | Average Combined Wait Time |
| 1 | Palm Beach International Airport | Florida | 05:29 | 01:58 | 07:27 |
| 2 | John Wayne Airport | California | 09:03 | 05:35 | 14:38 |
| 3 | Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport | Arizona | 11:11 | 05:45 | 16:56 |
| 4 | San Antonio International Airport | Texas | 08:04 | 11:02 | 19:06 |
| 5 | San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport | California | 07:39 | 12:58 | 20:37 |
| 6 | Sacramento International Airport | California | 07:05 | 13:36 | 20:41 |
| 7 | Portland International Airport | Oregon | 08:44 | 12:33 | 21:17 |
| 8 | Philadelphia International Airport | Pennsylvania | 10:48 | 11:02 | 21:50 |
| 9 | Raleigh–Durham International Airport | North Carolina | 08:47 | 13:19 | 22:06 |
| 10 | Tampa International Airport | Florida | 10:23 |
Fortunately, on average, US airports have cut the time passengers spend waiting down from around 29 minutes and 35 seconds to 27 minutes and 16 seconds.
Hopefully this information helps for the holidays!
