Travelers at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) are facing significantly longer and more unpredictable security lines, with a new analysis of checkpoint data revealing that average IAH TSA wait times have nearly doubled.
The analysis compared data from a weekend just before the shutdown, September 26th-28th, against the weekend of October 31st – November 2nd. The comparison shows the average wait time for passengers skyrocketed by 99.6%, climbing from 9.2 minutes in the September period to 18.4 minutes in the post-shutdown weekend. This dramatic increase in Houston airport TSA lines points to significant systemic strains.
Maximum Waits Skyrocket from 16 to 90 Minutes
While the rising average is an inconvenience, the spike in maximum wait times reveals the true scale of the problem. During the September 26-28 weekend, the longest recorded wait in the data was a manageable 16 minutes. Post-shutdown, during the October 31-November 2 period, passengers faced waits as long as 90 minutes. This has since risen, with some passengers reporting 3-5 hour waits.
These extreme delays create a volatile and stressful environment for travelers, making it difficult to predict how much time is needed to get to the gate. The data shows that while some passengers may still pass through quickly, the risk of being caught in a line that causes a missed flight has increased dramatically.
Terminal-by-Terminal Breakdown: Terminals A & C Hit Hard
The impact of the shutdown has not been felt equally across all IAH terminals. The analysis shows a clear shift in wait time patterns, with some terminals becoming severe bottlenecks.
- Terminal C North and Terminal C South saw the most dramatic percentage increases, with average waits tripling from 5 minutes to 15.7 minutes and 13.0 minutes, respectively.
- Terminals A North and A South saw their already higher wait times climb further, rising from 15-16 minutes to an average of 21.5 minutes, making them the most consistently slow checkpoints.
- Terminal D was the only terminal to escape significant impact, with average waits increasing by only one minute.
Summary of IAH Wait Time Changes (By Queue)
| Queue | Avg. Wait ‘Before’ (mins) | Avg. Wait ‘After’ (mins) | Change |
| Terminal A South | 16.0 | 21.5 | +5.5 |
| Terminal A North | 15.0 | 21.5 | +6.5 |
| Terminal C North | 5.0 | 15.7 | +10.7 |
| Terminal C South | 5.0 | 13.0 | +8.0 |
| Terminal D | 5.0 | 6.1 | +1.1 |
| Terminal E | N/A | 41.4 | +41.4 |
What Travelers at IAH Should Know
Based on this data, travelers flying out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, especially through Terminals A, C and E, are advised to arrive much earlier than usual or seek alternative travel arrangements.