After months offline during two government shutdowns, the TSA’s free MyTSA app is back. It shows live security wait times by checkpoint and predicts future waits down to the day and hour, while also helping travelers check carry-on rules and spot whether a Fed
Standing in a long airport security line is one thing. Losing minutes because you didn’t plan for how bad it would be is another.
That’s the problem the Transportation Security Administration is trying to solve with its MyTSA app, which is back up and running after being offline for months during the two recent government shutdowns.
The app is free to download. It displays current security wait times at checkpoints across the country and also predicts future wait times in the terminal you plan to visit, down to the day and hour.
When you log in, you first see your closest airport and its current wait times. For example. the app showed wait times between 15 and 30 minutes for a traveler near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD). If you want to check an airport farther from home. you can add it to your favorites list—such as Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in North Carolina—where wait times were listed as less than 15 minutes during the app’s search.
The app isn’t limited to “right now.” It can help you decide how early to get to the airport by estimating future wait times based on past data. The example given is planning a morning flight out of LaGuardia Airport (LGA) on a Friday—often a busy travel day. The app can show what TSA checkpoints at LaGuardia are typically like between 6 and 7 a.m. on a Friday. In that window, waits were often 15 to 30 minutes, with longer waits later in the afternoon.
There’s one important caveat built into the guidance: if you have TSA PreCheck, your wait will almost certainly be shorter. The app notes that most TSA PreCheck passengers nationwide typically wait five minutes or less.
MyTSA also flags whether a Federal Aviation Administration delay program is happening. Even if that may not greatly affect security wait times, it likely points to widespread flight delays.
The app can also be used for something that turns into stress fast at the airport: checking 3-1-1 compliance for carry-on items. The TSA app lets you search rules for liquids and prohibited items. After an electric razor died. one traveler said they typed disposable razors into the app’s search bar and saw they were allowed in carry-on bags. But searching for “peanut butter” shows it is prohibited in quantities greater than 3.4 ounces. meaning it would have to go in a checked bag.
Just don’t assume it will keep up if the government shuts down again. In that scenario, the app generally doesn’t get updated and isn’t reliable. The guidance is to rely on alternative sources such as trackers or social media feeds from your airport.
Planning ahead remains the core message. The MyTSA app can help travelers anticipate TSA security screening waits. while time-saving programs like Clear and Global Entry—or TSA PreCheck—make the security experience more predictable. And for TSA PreCheck members. the app also points to the TSA PreCheck Touchless ID program. available at more than 60 airports nationwide. Accessing those lanes doesn’t cost extra, but it does require pre-registration.
MyTSA app TSA wait times TSA PreCheck Clear Global Entry TSA PreCheck Touchless ID airport security carry-on rules 3-1-1 compliance LaGuardia O'Hare Raleigh-Durham FAA delay program government shutdown
So it’s back but does it actually work at every airport or just the big ones?
Wait times ‘down to the day and hour’ sounds cool but half the time the line is chaos anyway. I’ll probably still show up too early like an idiot.
I thought TSA apps were for the TSA to track you like, automatically? Like if it can predict it can also see where you are. Also ‘Fed Standing’?? Did someone translate that wrong or is that a person in the line? Feels sketchy.
I’m not trusting predictions. One time the app said 15 minutes and it was like 45 because of some random staffing thing. People act like you can plan your whole morning around a screen but then the system freezes, updates, whatever. Still though I might download it just to double check carry-on rules, because TSA is always changing stuff.