During the holiday season as airlines prepare for a surge of flyers security wait times turn into a traveler’s worst nightmare. And for those planning to fly out of JFK we’ve unfortunately got some bad news–JFK has just been voted among the airports in the U.S. with the worst security lines around the holidays.
According to Upgraded Points, air travel has not only recovered from its pandemic-induced drop in numbers but has now officially surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels altogether, and as airports gear up to handle the busiest travel season in history, a list of the U.S. airports with the longest TSA wait times has been released.
According to the study, John F. Kennedy International Airport has an average TSA wait time of 9.6 minutes during the holiday season–the third worst out of the country’s major airports.
In fact, TSA wait times at JFK during the holidays are 16% higher than usual.
Data shows that acquiring TSA PreCheck is the most effective method to minimize wait times, with passengers experiencing roughly one-third of the wait time compared to the standard passenger during the 2022 holiday travel season.
Though even these wait times are 26.6% higher than normal, taking an average of 1.8 minutes during the holidays.
However, even on days that experience the worst TSA holiday wait times–the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the Wednesday before Christmas–wait times for TSA PreCheck flyers are significantly shorter than standard wait times.
If it’s any consolation at least JFK doesn’t have the worst security lines in the U.S.–that title goes to Jacksonville International Airport, whose wait times average 12 minutes, a 28.6% increase compared to their usual wait times.
JFK was, however, named one of the worst airports in the world for 2022 travel, so that’s never fun.
Long story short, at the end of the day if you’re planning on flying anywhere this holiday season be sure to give yourself some extra time to make it through security–especially on Tuesdays, the worst day of the week for holiday TSA wait times.
The full study can be found here.