(UTC-4)
Airport

John F. Kennedy International Airport TSA Wait Times John F. Kennedy International Airport Live TSA Wait Times

IATA Code:

JFK

Timezone:

UTC/GMT -4:00 hours

Airport local time:

Thursday, 8:16pm

Activity: Very busy Less busy than usual
Current conditions

Live Airport Status

Current wait times, updates and terminal information for this airport.


Wait times are steady
Updated today, Thursday 1 October 2026
8:01 PM (UTC/GMT -4:00 hours)
Add Your Time
  • Data

    Qsensor makes use of data from John F. Kennedy International 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

    8:01 PM (UTC/GMT -4:00 hours)

Terminal level wait times

  • airplane
    All Terminals
    11 mins wait time
  • airplane
    Terminal 1
    Queues: 2
    8 mins wait time
  • airplane
    Terminal 4
    Queues: 2
    8 mins wait time
  • airplane
    Terminal 5
    Queues: 2
    12 mins wait time
  • airplane
    Terminal 7
    Queues: 1
    4 mins wait time
  • airplane
    Terminal 8
    Queues: 2
    19 mins wait time
Live departures

Flight Status

Check scheduled departures, destinations and reported delays for this airport.

--
avg delay (min)
Updated today, Thursday 1 October 2026
-- --
On Time (0-15 min)
Delayed (16-45 min)
Severely Delayed (>45 min)
LIVE

Flight status will load as you approach this section.

Plan ahead

Forecasts, historical patterns and guidance to help plan your airport arrival.

What Will the Wait Time Be?

Pick a day and time to see the typical wait, based on historical data.

— min typical wait

Wait Times by Day of Week

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

11m
Mon
10m
Tue
11m
Wed
10m
Thu
10m
Fri
11m
Sat
12m
Sun

Wait times today, hour by hour

Actual readings recorded so far today.
Current: 11 min (Similar to usual: avg wait time is 12 min)
Latest Airport Arrival Time
Domestic 1h 45m before departure
International 2h 20m before departure
How we calculated this

Bag drop closes 45-60 min before departure. With an estimated 45 min bag drop queue, you need to arrive at the desk 90-105 min early. After that, allow 10 min for security (avg on Thursdays) and 20 min to walk to your gate, which closes 15-20 min before departure. Finally, add a 15 min buffer.

Best & Worst Times to Fly

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

Best Time
Early Morning
4am - 8am
10 min avg wait
2 min avg flight delay
Worst Time
Afternoon
12pm - 5pm
15 min avg wait
12 min avg flight delay
Flying in the Early Morning instead of Afternoon could save you up to 5 minutes in tsa lines and 10 minutes in flight delays.

How Busy
Is the Airport?

Based on live and historical flight patterns. Tap a bar to see details.

Less busy than usual (0 flights vs 32 avg)
12 am
1 am
2 am
3 am
4 am
5 am
6 am
7 am
8 am
9 am
10 am
11 am
12 pm
1 pm
2 pm
3 pm
4 pm
5 pm
6 pm
7 pm
8 pm
9 pm
10 pm
11 pm
Not busy
A bit busy
Busy
Very busy

Flight Delays

Average departure delays by hour, based on the last 2 weeks of flight data.

Current: 4 min (Similar to usual: avg wait time is 7 min)

Other Wait Times at
John F. Kennedy International Airport

JFK
Customs

JFK Airport Customs

Airport Guide for John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is the primary international gateway to New York City and the busiest international air passenger hub in North America. Located in Queens, approximately 15 miles southeast of Midtown Manhattan, the airport serves over 60 million passengers annually through five active terminals Terminal 1, Terminal 4, Terminal 5, Terminal 7 and Terminal 8.

Currently, JFK is undergoing a historic $19 billion redevelopment designed to transform the facility into a world-class global hub. This massive infrastructure project includes the construction of two new state-of-the-art terminals (The New Terminal One and Terminal 6) and a complete overhaul of the airport’s roadway network. Consequently, travelers in 2026 are visiting an airport in transition; while fully operational, the “new” JFK requires passengers to carefully plan for construction detours and allow extra time for ground transportation.

John F. Kennedy International Airport FAQ

John F. Kennedy International Airport is currently Very busy based on real-time flight departure data. Compared to the historical average, the airport is less busy than usual.

Yes, the current TSA queue at John F. Kennedy International Airport is approximately 11 minutes. The airport is currently very busy. Check the live data on this page for the latest queue times.

It currently takes approximately 11 minutes to get through TSA at John F. Kennedy 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 John F. Kennedy International Airport vary throughout the day. Check the historical wait time chart on this page to find the quietest times.

Flights from John F. Kennedy International Airport are running close to normal today, with an average delay of 4 minutes — typical for this time on Thursdays.

Generally, no. The terminals at JFK are separated by busy roadways and are not connected by pedestrian walkways (airside or landside).

You must use the AirTrain to travel between terminals. The AirTrain for all trips within the airport complex (e.g., going from Terminal 4 to Terminal 8).

Follow the “AirTrain” signs in your terminal. There are three lines, but the Gold/Yellow Airline Terminal Loop is the dedicated circle line that stops at all terminals (1, 4, 5, 7, 8). It runs 24/7, typically every 10–15 minutes.

If you have to change terminals for a connecting flight, you must exit the secure area, take the AirTrain, and re-clear security at your new terminal.

  • International flight and connecting through a different terminal: 2-3 hours between flights to account for AirTrain wait times and security lines.
  • Domsetic connection within the same terminal: Minimum of 30 minutes, 1 hour for comfort.

If you do not have Global Entry, the best free option is Mobile Passport Control (MPC).

How it works: Download the MPC app, submit your passport and travel details upon landing, and use the dedicated “MPC” lane in the arrivals hall. It is often significantly faster than the general immigration line.

Note: Available to US, Canadan and Green Card holders only.

T4 Reserve is a free virtual queuing program at Terminal 4. It allows you to book a specific time slot for TSA security screening up to 72 hours before your flight. This lets you skip the general TSA line. You can book this on the JFK Terminal 4 website.

Note: The service is available daily from 5 to 10am and 3pm to 8pm at JFK Terminal 4.

The Subway (E Train or A Train).

  • Route: Take the AirTrain to Jamaica Station (for E train) or Howard Beach (for A train).
  • Cost: $8.50 (AirTrain exit fee) + $2.90 (Subway fare) = $11.40 total.
  • Time: Approximately 60–75 minutes.

JFK is going through a major makeover, which could negatively impact your journey. We recommend heading over to their website, to check the latest construction news.

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Guides for this airport

JFK Security Wait Times: A 69-Minute Peak and a Tale of Five Terminals

Our review of May 2026 shows TSA security queues at New York JFK peaked at 69 minutes. While…

Read more →

Live Airport & Flight Intelligence

Real-time security wait times, flight delay tracking, and airport busyness data — all in one place.

Security Wait Times

Live TSA, CATSA, and security checkpoint wait times by terminal and queue, with historical patterns to help you pick the best time to arrive.

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

Flight Delay Tracking

Live status for individual flights with 14-day rolling delay averages, on-time rates, and side-by-side route comparisons.

Real-time departure and arrival status
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Similar-flight performance comparisons

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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 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.

add time button

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. 

For airport wait times, we currently support over 140 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 12 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!

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Send the request via the contact form below:

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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.

add time button

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.

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