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Typical history

Philadelphia International Airport TSA wait times

PHL · KPHL · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Security wait

A live wait is shown in this space when the stored feed is under 15 minutes old.

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The current hour is filled from the observed-hour table in this browser.

Observed security history for Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is listed by hour. It is not a live reading. The current hour is chosen in the browser from that table.

Typical wait by hour

On Sundays, the quietest observed standard-lane hours are 12am (sample-weighted median 3 minutes) and 1am (sample-weighted median 3 minutes). The busiest observed hours are 6am (sample-weighted 75th percentile 12 minutes) and 7am (sample-weighted 75th percentile 11 minutes). Hours with no readings are left out, not treated as zero.

Standard lane only. Average and 75th percentile are sample-weighted from observed history. A gap means that hour had no readings.

PreCheck

Historical dataset includes a PreCheck lane.

CLEAR

CLEAR is not shown. We are not using a CLEAR source.

Departure delays

Historical on-time performance. Not a live delay.

76%

On-time departures, September 2025 through August 2026. A departure is on time when it left less than 15 minutes late.

Flights out of Philadelphia International Airport left on time 76% of the time from September 2025 through August 2026. The largest share of delay minutes was late-arriving aircraft (43%). That is a share of delay minutes, not a share of flights. The average delay among departures that were 15 minutes or more late was 82 minutes. 3% of scheduled flights were cancelled.

The highest on-time month was September 2025 (81%). The lowest was July 2026 (65%).

Share of delay minutes by cause. Not a percent of flights.
CauseDelay minutesShare of delay minutes
late-arriving aircraft857,65443%
the airline568,47629%
the national airspace system430,33522%
weather124,2356%
security2,6330%

Customs and passport control

International arrivals. Not TSA security.

The current hour is filled from the customs table in this browser. It is not a TSA security wait.

Sunday
HourAveragePublished maximumPassengers
10am2 min5 min104
11am14 min36 min4,332
12pm6 min22 min11,754
1pm5 min19 min19,922
2pm6 min22 min19,839
3pm7 min27 min38,859
4pm9 min32 min35,161
5pm9 min33 min31,805
6pm8 min25 min7,932
7pm12 min33 min12,924
8pm10 min27 min5,618
9pm7 min15 min511
Monday
HourAveragePublished maximumPassengers
1am4 min9 min161
11am16 min34 min4,000
12pm6 min27 min10,329
1pm6 min22 min23,474
2pm6 min24 min16,042
3pm7 min26 min34,268
4pm9 min33 min37,038
5pm8 min29 min27,364
6pm8 min23 min8,226
7pm9 min25 min11,322
8pm9 min25 min5,498
9pm8 min19 min426
10pm7 min15 min266
Tuesday
HourAveragePublished maximumPassengers
11am18 min41 min5,317
12pm8 min28 min11,450
1pm7 min23 min22,081
2pm6 min25 min15,727
3pm7 min27 min30,985
4pm7 min31 min29,959
5pm9 min41 min27,631
6pm9 min30 min9,063
7pm10 min27 min8,495
8pm9 min24 min3,088
9pm12 min28 min1,377
10pm9 min26 min629
Wednesday
HourAveragePublished maximumPassengers
11am14 min32 min3,881
12pm8 min29 min12,222
1pm6 min24 min21,409
2pm7 min31 min14,502
3pm6 min24 min27,291
4pm8 min29 min29,249
5pm9 min34 min23,620
6pm7 min24 min6,360
7pm9 min29 min10,552
8pm11 min28 min3,733
9pm9 min23 min1,365
10pm9 min18 min183
11pm16 min36 min177
Thursday
HourAveragePublished maximumPassengers
11am14 min34 min3,382
12pm7 min29 min11,395
1pm7 min25 min18,928
2pm6 min26 min13,752
3pm6 min27 min27,697
4pm8 min32 min28,727
5pm10 min40 min27,471
6pm8 min31 min7,662
7pm10 min29 min7,773
8pm10 min29 min5,511
9pm9 min21 min783
10pm6 min16 min84
Friday
HourAveragePublished maximumPassengers
11am15 min34 min4,355
12pm7 min27 min9,504
1pm7 min25 min20,419
2pm5 min21 min13,014
3pm7 min27 min30,807
4pm8 min32 min28,701
5pm9 min34 min27,015
6pm7 min23 min7,424
7pm9 min29 min10,638
8pm8 min22 min4,021
9pm8 min21 min240
10pm3 min6 min111
Saturday
HourAveragePublished maximumPassengers
11am15 min38 min4,085
12pm6 min27 min12,493
1pm7 min25 min22,469
2pm6 min23 min18,105
3pm7 min29 min33,477
4pm9 min33 min32,615
5pm10 min37 min33,252
6pm9 min31 min11,333
7pm10 min32 min14,019
8pm9 min24 min7,135
9pm8 min20 min1,328
10pm9 min23 min257
11pm8 min17 min192

When to be at the airport

TSA's published guidance is to arrive at the airport 2 hours before a domestic departure and 3 hours before an international departure. That is guidance, not a measured security wait.

Your flight

Enter a departure time to calculate when to be at the airport.

This subtracts TSA's published arrival guidance from the time you enter. It is not a drive time, and it is not a predicted security wait.

Nearby airports

Distances are straight-line miles.

Airport details
Runways
4
Longest runway
09R/27L, 12,000 ft
Longest runway width
200 ft
Longest runway surface
ASPH
Longest runway lighting
HIGH
Elevation
35.9 ft
CY2024 enplanements
15,102,261
Facility use
Public
Ownership
Public
Part 139 certificate code
I E
Fuel
100LL,A
Airframe repair
MAJOR
Powerplant repair
MAJOR
Last inspection
2025/08/11
PreCheck
Historical dataset includes a PreCheck lane.

FAA facility record date 2026/10/01. Runways: BTS NTAD Runways. Facility facts: BTS NTAD Aviation Facilities. Enplanements: FAA CY2024 commercial service.

Questions

What is the TSA wait at PHL right now?

Observed security history for Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is listed by hour. It is not a live reading. The current hour is chosen in the browser from that table.

Does TSACheck have a live security wait for PHL?

A live figure is shown only when the stored airport feed is fresh. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) also has observed history. A stored value that is too old is not shown as live.

How often do flights leave PHL on time?

Flights out of Philadelphia International Airport left on time 76% of the time from September 2025 through August 2026. The largest share of delay minutes was late-arriving aircraft (43%). That is a share of delay minutes, not a share of flights. The average delay among departures that were 15 minutes or more late was 82 minutes. 3% of scheduled flights were cancelled.

What is the customs wait at PHL?

Customs and passport-control history is in its own section. It is not a TSA security wait. The current hour is chosen from that table in the browser.

How early should I get to PHL?

TSA's published guidance is to arrive at the airport 2 hours before a domestic departure and 3 hours before an international departure. That is guidance, not a measured security wait.

Which airports are near PHL?

The nearest airports in this list are Wilmington Airport (ILG), 24 straight-line miles; Trenton Mercer Airport (TTN), 36 straight-line miles; Atlantic City International Airport (ACY), 46 straight-line miles; Dover Civil Air Terminal/Dover Air Force Base (DOV), 53 straight-line miles; Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE), 55 straight-line miles.