A new Web site launched yesterday by the Transportation Security Administration posts 28-day historical averages for security checkpoint wait times at every domestic airport, allowing travelers to tailor their itineraries to the times of less congestion.
"Passengers who use TSA's wait time site in combination with airport and airline information will be better able to plan--selecting times of the day when wait times are shorter as well as calculating when to arrive at the airport to comfortably catch their flight," said Ron Sokolov, TSA executive director of customer service and education.
Visitors to the Web site,
http://waittime.tsa.dhs.gov/index.html, must choose state, airport, day of the week, and time they plan to travel to get the historical average for the five-hour period bracketing their departure time. For example, inputting a departure date and time of Wednesday at 8 a.m. from Washington Reagan National Airport shows an average wait of nine minutes from the central pier and a maximum wait of 13 minutes, roughly the same as at 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Wait time information is posted daily, but it isn't available in real time, making it less useful for anticipating delays during holidays and when weather is disrupting flight schedules. TSA still recommends travelers check with airlines and airports for advice on when to arrive.
The Federal Aviation Administration also reports systemwide or airport-specific delays on its Web site.