BWI’s TSA wait times: What you need to know about today’s lines

After several days of long lines and travel disruptions at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, travelers arrived to a largely calm scene Monday.

If you’re headed to the airport, here’s what you need to know.

What’s the wait time? BWI Airport officials said security operations were back to normal, and moving quickly, shortly before 3 p.m. Monday. Airport officials advise travelers to arrive two hours before their departure time.

Earlier in the day, checkpoint wait times were under 10 minutes or so, and remained around that level all day.

Which checkpoints are open? Checkpoints A, B, C and D/E are open, including most lines for TSA PreCheck and Clear.

Your airline matters. Concourses A, B and C — serving American and Southwest airlines — saw the longest security lines in recent days, snaking around the airport and spilling out onto the sidewalk.

Concourses D and E — serving Delta, United, Frontier and other airlines — have a separate security checkpoint. This checkpoint has largely seen normal to no wait times.

Back to normal (for now)

Travelers breezed through security checkpoints at BWI on Monday. Two passengers looked confused as they walked to Checkpoint C, asking for the line for security screening. One of them smiled when an airport official told them there was none.

Even Checkpoint A, which has been regularly closed over the past few weeks due to TSA staffing issues, was open on Monday.

About 26,000 passengers are expected to travel from BWI on Monday, said Jonathan Dean, a spokesperson for the airport. “The checkpoint lines are moving very well, with no significant passenger lines,” he said.

Most airline check-in counters also had short or no lines on Monday, though passengers flying Frontier had about a 40-minute wait to check bags early in the morning.

Once passengers made it through security, some said they waited in long lines for coffee and food, though nothing too out of the ordinary.

TSA pay may be coming

Thousands of Transportation Security Administration workers went without pay for more than five weeks amid a partial government shutdown.

After weeks of chaos in U.S. airports, the Transportation Safety Administration said Monday that most of its officers received much of their backpay Monday for working during the shutdown.

Weary travelers hope the overdue paychecks will lead to the end of the hours-long security lines travelers experienced at several major U.S. airports in recent weeks.

More than 500 workers have quit, according to the Department of Homeland Security, and more than 30% of BWI’s TSA workers called out on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, over 38% of TSA workers at BWI called out, the highest rate in the U.S.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to pay TSA workers, though it’s unclear when travelers will see an impact. DHS has begun the payment process, and TSA officers should begin seeing paychecks Monday, said acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.

TSA employees had gone without pay since DHS funding lapsed in February. The department’s shutdown reached 44 days on Sunday, eclipsing the record 43-day shutdown last fall that affected all of the federal government.

The TSA staffing issues and spring break travel resulted in significant lines over the weekend.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were deployed Saturday at BWI to provide “operational support,” according to the Maryland Aviation Administration. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said on social media that the ICE agents were there only to speed the security clearance process, not for immigration enforcement.

ICE officers remained at the airport early Monday. At Checkpoint B, an ICE officer helped passengers put their carry-on bags through screening machines.

What to do if you miss a flight

The quickest way to get rebooked is by calling the airline directly, standing in line to speak with a representative or trying the reservations number for assistance, said Vikram Seshadri, a travel adviser. This could mean another long wait at the gate to speak with an airline worker about rebooking or flying standby on a later flight.

During some of the busiest times last week, Southwest Airlines — which accounts for about 70% of air traffic at BWI — had employees walking along checkpoint lines to offer assistance.

“If a customer is unable to make their flight due to longer than normal TSA wait times, we will rebook them on the next available flight without additional charge,” Chris Perry, a spokesperson for Southwest, said last week.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.