Airport Airport

MSY New Orleans International Airport TSA Wait Times

IATA Code:

MSY

Timezone:

UTC/GMT -5:00 hours

Airport local time:

Tuesday, 10:13pm


Wait times are falling (25.9% over last 4 hours)
Updated today, Tuesday 9 June 2026
10:00 PM (UTC/GMT -5:00 hours)
Add Your Time
  • Data

    Qsensor makes use of data from TSA for this 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

    10:00 PM (UTC/GMT -5:00 hours)

Wait Times by Day of Week

Average wait times based on the last 3 weeks of data.

8m
Mon
8m
Tue
7m
Wed
7m
Thu
7m
Fri
6m
Sat
12m
Sun

The average wait time at 10 pm at this airport is 1 minutes

Based on data from the past 3 weeks.
Current: 1 min (Longer wait than usual: avg wait time is 1 min)

Wait Times by Hour of Day

Cutoff Time for Airport Arrival

Latest Airport Arrival Time
Domestic 1h 25m before departure
International 1h 50m before departure
How we calculated this

Bag drop closes 45-60 min before departure. With an estimated 25 min bag drop queue, you need to arrive at the desk 70-85 min early. After that, allow 8 min for security (avg on Tuesdays) and 12 min to walk to your gate, which closes 15-20 min before departure. Finally, add a 15 min buffer.

Best & Worst Time To Fly

Best & Worst Times to Fly

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

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

A Guide to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)

MSY is located approximately 11 miles west of downtown New Orleans in Kenner, Louisiana, serves as the primary commercial aviation hub for the metropolitan area and southeast Louisiana. Named in honor of the legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong, the airport’s three-letter code, MSY, actually stems from its historical roots as Moisant Stock Yards, named after U.S. aviator John Bevins Moisant. In late 2019, the airport shifted its operations to a brand-new, modern terminal featuring three concourses. This state-of-the-art facility was purposefully designed to give travelers an immediate taste of the city’s vibrant culture, offering live music and renowned local dining options right inside the airport.

New Orleans International Airport FAQ

Yes, the current TSA queue at New Orleans International Airport is approximately 1 minutes. Check the live data on this page for the latest queue times.

It currently takes approximately 1 minutes to get through TSA at New Orleans International Airport. Wait times vary by time of day and day of week — check the hourly chart on this page for the full breakdown.

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

The official MSY Cell Phone Lot is located at the intersection of Airline Drive and Hollandey Street. The maximum allowed waiting time is 60 minutes, and your vehicle must be attended at all times. If the lot is full or you want to avoid curbside congestion, a popular local alternative is to use the Short-Term Parking Garage, which offers the first 30 minutes of parking completely free.

The designated app-based rideshare pickup zone is located on Level 1 (Arrivals) at the middle curb. To prevent overcrowding, the airport separates pickup doors: passengers awaiting a Lyft should exit through Doors 7 to 9, while those awaiting an Uber should exit through Doors 9 to 11.

The Consolidated Rental Car Facility is located off-site at 600 Rental Boulevard. Arriving passengers cannot walk to the rental cars; you must exit the terminal on Level 1 near Baggage Claim, walk toward the adjacent Long-Term Parking Garage, and take the free, dedicated shuttle bus to the facility.

The vast majority of MSY’s premium dining options—including local favorites like Cafe du Monde, MoPHO, and Mondo—are located post-security. Pre-security dining is very limited. If non-ticketed friends or family members want to eat with you past the checkpoint, they can register for the free Indulge MSY Guest Pass online or at the Level 1 terminal kiosk.

For official on-site parking, the Economy Garage is the most affordable at $12 per day and includes a 24/7 shuttle service to the terminal. For even cheaper rates, off-site third-party parking lots near the airport offer prices ranging from $6 to $15 per day, though these require independent shuttle transit.

Yes. Concourses A, B, and C are all connected past a single, centralized security checkpoint. You can freely walk between them, and the walk from the far end of Concourse C to the premium lounges near Concourse A takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Lost and found is divided by specific locations:

  • For items lost in public terminal areas, seating, or baggage claim, contact Airport Customer Service at 504-303-7790.
  • For items left directly at the TSA security checkpoint, contact the TSA directly at 504-463-2252.
  • If you left an item on the airplane or in the immediate gate area, you must contact your specific airline’s baggage office.

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Live data: For the majority of the airports we track we use live data from the airport. For the remaining airports we provide a modelled projection, combined with crowdsourced data.

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 who have input their wait time using the “Add Your 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. 

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For flight delays and cancellations, we currently support 12 airports, with the goal of expanding coverage going forwards.

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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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