Airport Airport

HOU Houston Hobby Airport TSA Times

IATA Code:

HOU

Timezone:

UTC/GMT -5:00 hours

Airport local time:

Monday, 2:39pm


Wait times are falling (19.5% over last 3 hours)
Last Updated:
2:38 PM (UTC/GMT -5:00 hours)2026-03-23
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  • Data

    Qsensor makes use of data from Houston Hobby Airport.

  • Disclaimer

    Waiting times may not accurately reflect your experience. It is advisable to arrive at the airport well in advance and follow the recommendations of the airlines and airports.

  • Airport Last Updated

    2:38 PM (UTC/GMT -5:00 hours)2026-03-23

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  • Total average

The average wait time at 2 pm at this airport is 41 minutes

Current: 6 min (Shorter wait than usual: avg wait time is 41 min)

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Analyse security wait time patterns over time and plan your perfect arrival. Pay once, access forever.

  • Trend analysis
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  • Weekday breakdown

Wait Times by Day of Week

Average wait times based on the last 4 weeks of data.

42m
Mon
14m
Tue
7m
Wed
7m
Thu
8m
Fri
8m
Sat
33m
Sun

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Recommended Airport Arrival Time
Domestic Flights 2h 0m before departure
International Flights 3h 0m before departure
Based on current average 6 min wait time at this airport

Unlock Best & Worst Time

Discover the optimal times to fly through this airport based on historical patterns. Pay once, access forever.

  • Lowest wait time periods
  • Peak hours to avoid
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  • Day-specific recommendations

Best & Worst Times to Fly

Based on historical tsa wait times across all days of the week.

Best Time
Night
9pm - 4am
15 min avg wait
Worst Time
Morning
8am - 12pm
20 min avg wait
Flying in the Night instead of Morning could save you up to 5 minutes in tsa lines.

Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) Travel Tips

William P. Hobby Airport is Houston’s oldest commercial aviation facility, having opened in 1927, and is conveniently located just seven miles southeast of downtown Houston. Recognized as the only 5-star Skytrax-rated airport in Texas, HOU serves over 14 million passengers annually. The airport features a highly walkable, single-terminal design divided into a Central Concourse for domestic flights and a West Concourse for both domestic and international departures. Functioning as a massive operating base for Southwest Airlines, Hobby Airport is celebrated by travelers for its compact layout, budget-friendly flight options, and overall ease of navigation.

Houston Hobby Airport FAQ

The current TSA wait time at Houston Hobby Airport is approximately 6 minutes.

TSA wait times at Houston Hobby Airport vary throughout the day. Check the historical wait time chart on this page to find the quietest times.

CRITICAL ALERT: Due to an ongoing federal government shutdown resulting in 61,000 unpaid TSA agents nationwide, security wait times at HOU have recently reached 3 to 3.5 hours, with lines extending into the parking garage. The Houston Airport System urgently advises arriving 4-5 hours before your scheduled flight.

HOU is highly recommended for downtown access. It is located just 7 to 11 miles southeast of downtown, making the drive approximately 15 to 21 minutes under normal traffic conditions. Conversely, IAH is over 20 miles north and can take 30 to 45+ minutes to navigate.

HOU is overwhelmingly the better choice for Galveston cruises. It is located on the south side of Houston, making the drive to Galveston a straight shot down I-45 taking about 40 to 45 minutes. IAH is on the far north side, requiring a 70+ mile transit through heavy traffic that can take well over 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Options vary significantly by budget and group size. Galveston Express offers shared public shuttles starting around $45 per person. Private small-party shuttles like Royal Galveston Shuttle charge around $30 per person. Flat-rate taxis like zTrip are available for $110 to $120 total per vehicle (accommodating 3-4 passengers).

TSA Checkpoint Hours:

  • Main Terminal: 3:45 AM – 11:00 PM
  • TSA PreCheck: 3:45 AM – 8:45 PM
  • CLEAR:
    • Sun, Mon, Wed, Thur, Fri: 4:30 AM – 8:00 PM
    • Tue: 4:30 AM – 7:00 PM
    • Sat: 4:30 AM – 6:30 PM

These hours may change based on airline schedules, so plan accordingly.

HOU features a highly walkable, single-terminal design. You can typically walk from the central security checkpoint to the furthest gate in about 5 to 8 minutes.

For on-site parking, the Red and Blue Garages cost $24.00 per day. Valet parking is $29.00 daily. For a budget option, the official EcoPark lot costs $10.00 per day.

Yes, many frequent travelers note that the EcoPark lot is walkable to the terminal, allowing you to bypass the shuttle during off-peak hours.

All Ride App pickups (Uber, Lyft, etc.) are located on Level 1 (Baggage Claim). You must exit through the glass doors nearest Baggage Claim Carousel 4 and proceed directly to Curb Zone 5.

Take the Route 50 Broadway local bus from HOU to the Magnolia Transit Center, connect to the Green Line light rail to the Convention District, and then take the Route 500 Downtown Direct bus to IAH Terminal C.

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Security Wait Times

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Updates every 5–15 minutes from official feeds and crowdsourced reports
Per-terminal and per-queue breakdowns
Historical charts showing quietest times to fly

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Qsensor FAQ

Live data: For the majority of the airports we track we use live data from the airport. For the remaining airports we provide an estimate, and we communicate that it’s a best-guess only.

Search: By airport name, IATA code, city, county, country or region. To save you time, we keep your last visited airports on the front page. If you can’t find an airport, contact us using the contact form and we will look to add it. 

Current average wait time: The airport’s latest average security, passport control or customs queue wait time. If the airport has multiple queues, we display the average of them. If you want a more granular view that includes wait times for individual queues, take a look at the terminal level wait times. We regularly update each airport’s data,  but make sure you click the “i” icon to check when the last update was made.

Terminal level wait times: The latest security or customs queue wait time for individual terminals. Click on the terminal to access more information at the terminal level. Please note that this data is not available for all airports. We are working to expand this functionality to as many airports as possible.

Historical wait times: The typical wait time on different days and times over the past 2 weeks. Click the filter at the top right of the graph to cycle through the days of the week.

Add a security or customs queue wait time: How was your airport security experience? Contribute to the community by inputting your wait time. This feature is only available for airports where Qsensor does not automatically track data. To add a wait time, simply click the “Add Your Time” button on the airports page and follow the instructions.

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Please note that this data is monitored and may be modified or deleted if found to be invalid.

Click the “i” icon to view and take note of more contextual information on each airport. “Airport Last Updated” denotes the last time the data was refreshed.

Our sources for wait time data vary and may include air travel data aggregators, federal agencies such as the TSA, CATSA CBP, or information from the airport and its affiliated service providers. For some airports, Qsensor utilises its proprietary queue modelling technology to project wait times. Additionally, we crowdsource data from passengers that have inputted their wait time using the “Add Wait Time” button.

Qsensor is not affiliated with any airport, airline, or associated service provider.

We regularly check queue times and flight delays for accuracy, however all times are estimates and waiting times and delays may not accurately reflect your experience. It is advisable to arrive at the airport well in advance and follow the recommendations of the airlines and airports.

There are a wide array of ways that queue data is measured. Including but not limited to looking at how long a passenger takes to get from scanning their boarding pass to exiting the security or customs area. Auditing passengers on how long it took them to pass through security or customs as well as Qsensors’ proprietary system for user added wait times. 

For airport wait times, we currently support over 110 airports worldwide. Whether it be London Heathrow, Istanbul, or Miami – we have got you covered. More are added all the time. Is Qsensor missing an airport that you want to be supported? We are more than happy to accommodate your request, get in touch via the contact form. 

For flight delays and cancellations, we currently support 7 airports, with the goal of expanding coverage going forwards.

Qsensor automatically tracks wait times for a variety of airports including London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Amsterdam Schiphol, Kempegowda Bangalore, Madrid Barajas, Hong Kong, Istanbul, and many more!

For flight delays and cancellations, we track Gatwick, Heathrow, Barcelona and more.

Qsensor is available in English, German, Italian, Greek, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic.

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Make sure you include the name of the airport and its IATA code in your request!

The flight delay tracker gives you a comprehensive view of flight status delays, both for the current day and historically on a per flight basis. Tap on a weekday to see all flights that have historically taken off on that day and their typical delay over the past two weeks. You can also search for your flight using your flight number and view the airport’s average delay.

Get insights into flight on-time performance and make better travel decisions. Please note, this feature is not available for all airports, but we’re adding more all the time!

To keep wait times relevant, the message “There is currently no data for this airport.” is shown when no traveller has recently inputted a wait time.

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For airports Qsensor automatically tracks, this message may also be shown if we haven’t recently gotten data from the airport. This typically rectifies itself within 12 hours.

If you have a suggestion for an airport you want to be tracked or a feature added, share it via the contact form.

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This FAQ section is updated periodically, please check back for updates. This FAQ was last updated on the 15th of March, 2026.

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