Updated March 20, 2026, 1:06 p.m. ET
Flying out of Philadelphia International Airport this weekend or early subsequent week? you’ll doubtless have a whole lot of firm, and you’ll want to organize for prolonged TSA wait occasions.
PHL is taken into account a Core 30 airport by the Federal Aviation Administration, that means it is without doubt one of the 30 busiest airports in the nation. That, together with Fridays being among the many busiest air journey days in response to OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited, means understanding TSA wait occasions is extra essential than ever for your journey plans.
Here’s what weekend flyers must know.
What is the TSA wait time at PHL proper now?
According to Philadelphia International Airport’s real-time TSA average wait time web site, it will take roughly half-hour to cross by way of TSA safety as of Friday morning, March 20.
- Terminal A-East (4:15 a.m. – 10:15 p.m.): safety wait time, 5 minutes
- Terminal B (3:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.): safety wait time, half-hour
- Terminal D/E (3 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.): safety wait time, half-hour
Your wait time may very well be diminished if you have TSA PreCheck, significantly at Terminal D/E, which might shave 25 minutes off your wait time.
You ought to examine PHL’s web site usually if you have a flight departing PHL this weekend or early subsequent week.
Will TSA reimburse me for missed flight?
The Transportation Safety Administration has no program to reimburse flyers who missed flights as a result of they had been delayed by the TSA safety course of.
You should buy third-party journey insurance coverage to reimburse the price of your missed flight, nevertheless.
PHL flights delayed by terminal closings, TSA cutbacks
Regardless of the listed TSA wait occasions on PHL’s web site, you ought to give your self further time to cross by way of safety.
TSA closed Terminal C at Philadelphia International Airport in early March, and days later, the transportation company closed Terminal A-West and Terminal F.
Those closures will add extra quantity to the remaining terminals.
The ongoing partial federal authorities shutdown can be impacting air travel nationwide, because the TSA absence fee stood at roughly 10%, additional straining the screening course of and increasing wait occasions.
(This story has been up to date to right a misspelling in a headline)
Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending subjects throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region.
