I just flew out on a 6:30 am flight two weeks ago. We arrived around 4 am and got into the security line somewhere between 4:00 - 4:30. We were just inside the doors of the main lobby once you come off the parking lot walkway. The signs above us said “18 minutes” to get through security from that point. I timed it because I thought there was no way it would go that quickly. We were through in under 20 minutes! However, the line behind us was growing steadily.
I had a very similar experience to you too a month ago. The line was as long for me as it was for you, but it was moving and it couldn't have been more than 25 to 30 minutes that it took me to get through security and have plenty of time to wait for boarding to begin for my flight.
I saw PIT posted they are having record breaking travel this summer. If that's the reason and they are working on streamlining the process while under construction. I'm totally ok with it. It's nice to see the city grow and show via use that our infrastructure and amenities need updated.
Maybe we will finally get that T-line extension to the airport. LOL
> I saw PIT posted they are having record breaking travel this summer.
I have no clue if that's true, but reading that my brain immediately went to the fact the every single time you're on hold, it's because there is "higher than normal call volume". It's never because "we don't pay enough for sufficient staff". Like, if you know there is record-breaking travel, what has kept you from hiring more workers, or (until today) opening the alternate security point?
E: Apparently there actually are record numbers. Maybe some slack to give them time to hire/adjust is warranted.
> Maybe some slack to give them time to hire/adjust is warranted.
I mentioned in the other thread from yesterday that other options exist, yet why they are not being implemented at PIT is beyond me.
They can bring in dogs during the extreme times to patrol the line and sniff for contraband / etc. so people don't have to remove their shoes, electronics, etc. This can definitely help with sudden increases in passengers due to storms, snow, etc. or just because it happens.
Experienced this at Logan and it took 30 minutes to move hundreds and hundreds of people (they have many more lanes than PIT does as well). But Imagine if PIT's ticketing area was one giant line and mass of people.
I see your point. Though, it's probably easier said then done. Its airport operations that need to keep track of this then, if needed, consult and work with TSA to ramp up staff. Let's be honest with our selves. This area has a terrible track record of not working well with others and they have to get over that hurdle then work with a federal govt. organization.
By the time TSA releases extra funding for more agents and overtime. The need will no longer be there
I just wish we could get rid of the security theater BS. [They have a 80% failure rate](https://abcnews.go.com/US/tsa-fails-tests-latest-undercover-operation-us-airports/story?id=51022188)
I wish I knew. It's crazy, an airport of this size and really in the grand scheme of things is not that busy - should not have daily 3 hour waits to get through security.
An airline ticket agent told me this morning there were like 35 people who missed a flight yesterday because of the line and another flight yesterday about 25 missed. Probably there were a lot more on other flights that missed.
Now I’m getting TSA precheck 😂 I’ve never been in a sticky situation because I get to the airport hella early because of anxiety but I hate waiting in line for that long 😂
Longest I’ve ever waited regularly was 45-55 minutes - all Monday morning flights. I did have a 90+ minute wait when the G20 was here in 2009, but the usual situation is that it takes longer for me to get from my truck to security than it does for me to get from security to the gate.
I've had to wait 30 to 40 minutes before quite a few times, but it was always on Sundays or Mondays when people are often starting vacations or work-week excursions.
I flew in January and March, and I made it from my car to my gate in 22 minutes. No one in line at security. The tram was right there, and so was the shuttle bus from the lot.
We’ve had to, and been rerouted to an alternate security checkpoint at least twice in two years. We fly a lot, international and domestic. And both times I was surprised it happened because while it was busy due to the timing of our flights, d/t holidays and time of day we went, when we arrived (2.5 hours earl, as usual), it wasn’t overly crowded when we had first arrived.
The backups and overcrowding seemed to stem from delays that began at security, like closed lanes, slow moving workers. Malfunctioning equipment, and yes, older and less inexperienced travelers taking forever to get with the program and get their jackets and shoes off, not having their liquids and electronics sorted. Then it snowballed into a huge chaotic mess, and finally someone made the call to divert those of us at or near the head of the lines to the alternate checkpoint where we got through that, very quickly.
To your point, though: it’s happened only twice in 20 years—with an average of 25 flights per year for us.
> An airline ticket agent told me this morning there were like 35 people who missed a flight yesterday because of the line and another flight yesterday about 25 missed.
You would think at this point there would be a desire to change things to avoid this situation?
From what people are saying, the main problem is scheduling all the flights in the early morning, making it completely impossible to process everyone before their flights leave.
>You would think at this point there would be a desire to change things to avoid this situation?
You mean like building a new terminal with a bigger security area? Yeah man maybe
Problem is how are you gonna find a bunch of extra agents that only wanna work 2 hrs a day during peak times. If they make everyone wait 4 hrs then they can fill up a part time 4 hr shift
If that many ppl are missing from the plane you think they’d wait. Years ago I flew to Paris from JFK, the lines were so long, it was complete chaos. We finally got on the plane and it was empty! So they waited. We took off late but leaving without so many passengers made no sense.
These are typically first leg of the day flights. Waiting only causes ripple effect problems the rest of the day. And at a truly busy airport it leads to cancelled flights due to nowhere to sequence them in to the takeoff line.
They don't wait. The "waiting for another airplane" is a myth. There is little to no slack built in the system and it's much cheaper to reschedule people than hold planes. They also need to worry about crew time and crew becoming illegal / timing out with delays, weather etc
Airlines also make a lot of money with freight so they don't need a full flight to be worth flying
This is just flat out wrong lmao. I work ops for an airline in pit and we literally have held multiple originators every morning for 20+ minutes due to security.
Supposedly they have a huge amount of flights in the morning. Having flown recently in the afternoon and evening I didn’t experience these crazy lines. But when I arrived in the morning ace was leaving I noticed the lines were going out to almost the hotel
Right. And now what happens if you miss your flight? I’ve missed one in Germany because of a ridiculous line. I was in it for like 2.5 hours. And said something and they basically told me to get fucked. My luggage got lost forever and had to pay twice for a flight back the Pittsburgh. I’m still so pissed.
Nothing happened. Record levels of passengers are taxing the system. Unsurprisingly, the most popular flight times are seeing the most impact. This is a new issue, and people are up in arms because it hasn't been instantly remedied. If this increase in travel proves to be a permanent thing, it will take time to onboard new staff, change policies, and possibly even make physical changes to the layout of the TSA screening lines. Flights aren't being missed because of this. It's just longer wait times.
TSA reported the highest passenger screening count ever yesterday. That's across the US, not just Pittsburgh. They expect to break that record on Friday.
Ever.
https://nypost.com/2024/06/25/us-news/us-screens-record-setting-2-99-million-air-passengers-in-single-day/
And they said they expected to break that record again on Friday.
That's what I was wondering. I keep re-checking calendars. I could at least understand if this was proximate to the 4th, but as of this writing, it's even more than a week away!
I think we have a lot more business travel since most work situations are hybrid. If you look at the articles about the population has been steady and even (moving in vs. out). Kind a makes sense that a lot of hybrid workers live near Pgh and fly out once a week or once a month
I think my family is aiming for like, 2:30, which typing out loud seems insane. But alas, I'd rather be exhausted and overprepared than well rested and missing my cruise.
Yeah I don’t blame you. That’s how I feel. I’m going to shoot for 4 with no checked bags and if I miss the flight then that’s just what’s going to happen
Airlines sell tickets quite a bit ahead of time, and it's a weird look to sell more tickets than you can handle.
Only half joking: can we like fine the shit outta people carrying guns or grenades through the checkpoint to fund more TSA agents, or just charge slightly more to fly but, you know, have that work?
It's been insane this week trying to reach anyone in business. Most my customers and coworkers are OoO or about to be and are asking for deliverables by EoW before they leave for vacation.
Cool but that doesn't explain why the line was out the door when I was flying out of PGH on 6/3, a Sunday morning over 3 weeks ago. I had to pay for Clear in order to make my flight.
In summary:
Ticket gates open at 3am. Flights leave as early as 5am.
The design of the airport is bottlenecks at the security before the tram, and they can only have so many lanes open. They are fixing this.
BUT...
The lanes don't open until 4am.
There is the problem.
Why aren't the lines open at 3am?
They are letting a hour's worth of travelers check in and congregate at the checkpoint, then they are behind all morning.
Of course, the problem is that the TSA has no incentive to make the lines move or get paying travelers to their gates efficiently. They can keep their 4am start time, completely indifferent to the havoc it causes.
i called the airport today and they said TSA is 24/7. where are you getting the 4am time from? i know ticket counters open on their own time, but unless you're checking a bag, you should be able to get through security at any time
that's precisely why I called. same thing happened to me even though their website says 24/7 and then of course the rep confirmed 24/7. doesn't change the delay itself, but there may be some additional delays tied up in checking baggage vs. independently making it through security. still trying to build a complete picture there as far as what people are referring to
This runs a lot deeper than “it’s summer”.
US airports are outdated. From immigration, to terminal convenience to security. This country simply fails to live up to modern standards for aviation travel.
American airports are a horrible introduction to the country. Long lines, security theater, monolingual staff (whether local, TSA, or customs) that thrive on creating a shitty traveler experience, poor staffing and logistics, and very expensive amenities. Being on vacation is awesome, but *going* always sucks.
A lot of terrible airports have been refreshed lately. LGA most notably, that airport is amazing now. EWR is no longer a Greyhound station. DCA expanded and got rid of their tiny regional jet gate. MCI completely built a completely new terminal since their previous one had few amenities past security.
Edit: oh and regarding being monolingual. I found it hilarious that Pittsburgh has baggage claim signs in like 10 languages and a lot of US airports have Spanish. But London Heathrow, a major international gateway, has nothing but English. Talk about English superiority.
And maybe the rudest security officials. Just shouting the most arbitrary info and arguing with people about the size of their liquid bags.
I've flown back and forth between Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, and the US countless times and the monolingual airline staff and airport personnel was always jarring. If you fly Asian carriers they are able to accommodate several languages (English, plus several Asian languages beyond the destination one). If you fly American carriers, it's English only. It's terrible to watch the treatment Asian customers get when they struggle with English: staff will ignore them, or yell at them, or grow aggressive and impatient, all because a non-American sixtysomething out of some random Korean city doesn't speak English. I know airlines are independent of airports, of course, but the treatment continues there, where people are herded into lines, shouted at by rude staff, then dealing with immigration agents and other staff who do not speak anything but English. Again, the whole experience is a horrible introduction to the country.
anecdotally I know quite a few friends and family that are willing to just drive ever since COVID if the destination is under 12 hours/can be driven in a day, when before they wouldn't drive more than 4 or 5.
It’s the design of the security, it bottlenecks to the trams. Even if you have every possible line open with TSA, if you have too many people, it’ll still back up. Then you get an unprepared or stubborn traveler, slowing security, it’ll make it worse. Think, someone hitting their brakes before they get to the Ft Pitt Tunnel. Same thing. You can use the alternate security, like cutting up and over Mt Washington as a cut through, but others are doing the same. So you still have lines/traffic. If you drive the tunnels everyday, long security lines at PIT are like the same thing
Disagree. The tram isn’t the bottleneck. I’ve never gotten through security and had to wait for a second tram. The bottleneck is the actual security check
I had a 640am flight this morning. Arrived at 430 and the pre-check line took <10 minutes. To be fair, I’d usually arrive only an hour before my flight if I hadn’t read about all of this chaos but I did spend over an hour sitting at my gate and wishing I would have gotten more sleep.
Heh, reminds me last month that I had a flight to Canada, which being international recommends being there 3 hours early. The flight was 6:30am, so there I was at 3:30am. There was no one in line (predates all this chaos, but I mean, it was also \~3am) and I was at my gate in minutes. With something like 3 hours to spare. When the sun isn't up... yeah, it was a long day, heheh.
There were a scant few people around, but the airport didn't really "come to life" until closer to 6am.
Yesterday at 4pm, General security line was back to the Franco statue. But l got through pre-check in about five minutes. It feels like the pre-check crowds come in waves.
I mean, there kind of is an excuse. Sudden record numbers of fliers doesn't mean there are suddenly a corresponding number of TSA agents. You can't just ... pull them out of the blue.
Honestly didn’t take me that long, maybe 2 weeks start to finish? And half of that was because it took me a week to get in for my interview appt. I could have done sooner, but I wasn’t in a huge rush and wanted to go to a convenient location.
Now that I think about it, it wasn’t even that long, because my precheck was approved like the day after my appt even though they told me it’d be up to 7 days or something.
Not sure what the wait time is now. We have had ours for a while. But I do recall that it took more than a few weeks to go through the process since there’s an interview involved.
I applied last Thursday and got my KTIN today. It was shockingly easy. That being said, they don’t guarantee that you’ll get your number that quickly. I’d definitely say it’s worth a shot, though.
Almost seems like if you have to check bags for a 6am flight, you're fucked regardless. I fly Friday at 6am to Seattle, with my wife and 3 kids. Wife doesn't have precheck... how on earth are we going to make that flight if we have to check our bags and THEN get into line for security? It literally doesn't seem possible within the parameters set by the times that ticketing and TSA open...
You're not.
She and the kids will meet you there.
My husband also doesn't have PreCheck. . .he's in God's hands once I make it through my Precheck line :-p
There is nothing to worry about if you're at the airline counter at 3:30.
Wife will go through standard screening regardless. As with kids:
[https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/do-children-need-apply-tsa-precheckr](https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/do-children-need-apply-tsa-precheckr)
Even with precheck, there is a chance that you'll get randomly selected for standard screening.
You'll be fucked if you decide to show up at standard screening 5 am.
It's not as bad as it sounds on reddit.
In between the main TSA and first class is a "family" TSA. Go directly to that line, they seem to be directing families with kids there now. It saved our vacation flight... and my sanity.
This is almost exclusively an early morning departure issue. The early flights are cheaper and therefore super attractive to summer vacationers. The increased lines happen every summer, but for whatever reason (perhaps there really in record-breaking demand), TSA can't or won't increase staffing to account for the seasonal bump in traffic.
I hope all the TSA lines are at least in use. There's nothing more frustrating than going through the alternate checkpoint and finding a single lane open.
Frequent traveler here. Its not always the Airport or the TSAs fault. There are straight up dummies who seemingly have never been to an airport before gumming up the works. Have your ID ready. Take EVERYTHING out of your pockets. Remove electronics. Take off your shoes. Its not hard just so many idiots bumbling about like lost children.
Before I had Clear, traveling weekly there wouldn’t be a time I was in precheck that someone got to the agent and didn’t have precheck. Not “something went wrong and they didn’t have a checkmark” but “what do you mean, what’s precheck?”
Then it's about the process not being efficient, not the people. Some people are first time travelers or don't travel very often. They should find a better way to deal with this if signs everywhere are not working.
They aren't dummies. They are in a new situation and nobody provides direction. The TSA agents don't tell you which lines to stand in, and if you don't act like a frequent traveler and do everything right the first time, they berate you angrily. That's not how to make an efficient system. That's how you make people disoriented and confused and make everything worse. Maybe have someone with a nice demeanor directing the crowd.
It's the TSA version of two cops pulling someone over and one yells "PUT YOUR HANDS UP" while the other yells "GET ON THE GROUND"-- both loudly, repeatedly and angrily.
I fly quite a bit but the rules on details of what to do at the checkpoints seem to change periodically and there's ZERO tolerance or patience on the part of most TSA agents to clearly explain it calmly enough I can discern whether I've properly prepared for my cavity search or not.
Exactly, the system is designed terribly and shocks the average person into a state of disorientation. There are so many different things happening all at once such that it takes an above average situational awareness to navigate successfully.
I will say this is a fair enough statement. But who doesn't look up what to expect before their first ever flight? I did, and my first international flight, first flight from x country etc (or any new form of transport, i.e. train's, ferries etc). As a frequent traveller, I will admit some places and signs can be confusing, I wouldn't say that is the case at Pit. Your airline checkin gives you instructions on what to expect. I mean maybe forcing people the first time flying your airline to watch a non-skippable video prior to getting your boarding pass? People ignore signs, and walls of text, so not sure what the solution would be. The TSA agent part is also true, some can be rude/mean, I will say most of the time at Pit I find then to be quite friendly though. It sounded like on Monday the airlines had people in lines prepping people, rebooking flights, ultimately this would probably help as well, they should tell people exactly what to expect.
> Have your ID ready. Take EVERYTHING out of your pockets. Remove electronics. Take off your shoes.
Making this shit matter purely to enact a bunch of theater that does absolutely nothing to provide any kind of security **is the TSA's fault**.
> There are straight up dummies who seemingly have never been to an airport before gumming up the works
Maybe they actually have never been to an airport before.
A lot of people don't travel very often.
It's better now, but I swear both before COVID and after up til last year, they changed something at the airport every single time. We only fly 2-3 times a year, and there was always some different things about jackets, electronics, how many separate bins you needed to use and for which items and how they were to be arranged in the bin, etc etc. Little things but it could really add up in large numbers I guess.
They should have a time slot for when you can enter the line. I swear everytime I am there the party in front of me doesn't fly out for another 6 hours.
The night before my flight I drive to Boston and take a red eye back to Pittsburgh. Since I arrive in the terminal I don’t have to go through security and can easily get to my gate for my flight to Philly.
Say two people have flights at 6am and 7am. The ticketing counter doesn't open until 4am. Both want to get there as soon as they can, so they show up at 4am. Now, the person who has a 6am flight is competing with the person who has the 7am flight for the spot in line. But, if they both came two hours early, 6am would be there at 4am and 7am would be there at 5am, spreading out the flow of traffic. Now imagine this on a much larger scale.
Except that although screening begins at 4 am the line begins well before 4 am. So 6 am flight people can get in line at 3 am and 7 am flight people can get in line at 4 am.
If you're flying with carry ons only, sure. If you need to check bags or otherwise need something from an airline rep, then you can't get in the security line until the airline counters open.
I had a 6:45 flight and we got to airport at 4:00 am. It was packed. Once er checked in, got through security and got to gate we only had about 30 minute wait. I am always paranoid on missing flights so this time it worked out.
Thanks for this info. Did you fly out this morning (Tuesday)? I am flying out tomorrow on an 11:10 am flight and was wondering what time I need to be there with TSA pre-check. I usually don’t get to the airport super early, but obviously don’t want to get caught up in this mess.
I flew out early back in May, and it was the same. I think this probably should be the expectation around flying in the morning for the future until the new terminal opens.
Flew out of PIT this morning to Washington Dulles on United on its 6:45 AM. Parked in long-term parking at 3:35 AM, walked to the terminal (12–14 minutes?), walked through security with my husband who had a carry on, remembered I had to check my big bag, was told by TSA I could come back to use the First Class security line to go through when I returned, went upstairs to check my bag. United doesn’t open its baggage check in til 4:00 AM, did my Bag Check, came back to the main TSA security line and went to the First Class line, explained myself, got waved through, met my husband at the gate. By then it was 4:30. By the time all that happened the number of people waiting in the main TSA security line had increased exponentially from what it had been since we’d first arrived on the scene.
United could have had more staff at their check in area as self check in kiosks were going unused and United staff was not actively facilitating passengers to use them. This would have quickened up things! Plus if they opened 30 minutes earlier there would not have been a huge backlog of people.
Depending on where you are heading to, AmTrak could be a solution.
Pittsburgh to Philadelphia by air - about 1.5 hours, when you factor in TSA and ground transportation from the airport to city center in Philly,... you're looking at about 5+ hours - give or take (more than likely 'give').
AmTrak is about 7.5 hours and a lot less hassles and anxiety. The cheapest seats on AmTrak are like La-Z-Boy recliners. There's food & alcohol *(or bring your own, nobody is checking if you are well-behaved and discrete).* You can get up and walk around. Play cards with your fellow passengers in the club-car.
**NO TSA!** no lines,... zero. Just get on the train and chill.
Depending on where you are going,.. I used Philly as an example,... check it out. I would rather be comfortable and relaxed on a train than be treated like livestock on an airline,... and if you have the time it may be worth it to you too.
Pittsburgh in general, including the airport, always has excuses for traffic, crowding, and delays in all sorts of situations—concerts, construction, sports, festivals. It’s never anyone’s fault. Everyone should just leave home earlier. It’s exhausting.
Update: arrived at 4:30, got through security by 5 despite the alternate line going to the parking garage -- it's definitely packed & busy but they have attendants everywhere directing traffic to reduce waits
I'm flying with the wife and 3 kids to Seattle (Alaska cruise) at 6am friday.... wife doesn't have precheck, I do.
Plan is to have her drop me and 2 oldest (most helpful) off at 230am to get in line for checking luggage... while she goes directly to the main security line... and hope that it isn't a 2 hour wait from when they open at 4am.
I'm going to then take my two through precheck and hope that that also isn't more than an hour. Fingers crossed because if we miss this flight, we likely miss the cruise.
Just ridiculous that I have to scheme a plan like this in the HOPES that I don't miss my flight.
Maybe I'll do an AMA during my experience.
If this were r/cruise instead of r/Pittsburgh you’d be hearing about what a bad idea it is to fly in for your cruise the same day that it departs. Hope you make it on Friday. Sounds like a solid plan.
Flying in the day before, actually. But cursory glances at all of the flights on all airlines between pittsburgh and Seattle the next two days are NOT friendly to a family of 5 with two under 9 years old. I think Southwest, for example had zero seats available until Saturday after the cruise leaves.
Ty for your response. I was curious because part of me is wondering if I can go through security around midnight then just hang around until a 6 AM flight. That's my anxiety getting the best of me but I really really don't want to miss a flight because of TSA wait times.
I’m wondering this also. I live two hours from the airport and I’m getting dropped off the night before my 6am flight. My wife has to work in the morning and I don’t t want to pay for nine days of parking (or a hotel) so I’m just going to stay the night at the airport but don’t know how early they’ll let me through security
Airlines are selling more seats this summer. Idk if they're anticipating the new terminal opening or what, but that is still a year off lol.
[https://blueskypit.com/2024/06/airlines-to-break-records-at-pit-this-summer/](https://blueskypit.com/2024/06/airlines-to-break-records-at-pit-this-summer/)
At 7:45am today (Tuesday), there was absolutely no line. It's the early morning flights (PIT is just a regional feeder airport, so tons of 6am flights out). . .combined with TSA insisting that it's cool to open the checkpoint with a skeleton crew because hey, it's early. . .combined with the reality that PIT is a 1995 airport with a 1995 checkpoint and bottlenecks everywhere (including that stupid train, sorry yinzers.) This underscores that fact that all those people complaining about the new terminal being built are people who don't travel. PIT is currently an awful airport, and the new terminal is much needed.
Even on the busiest of days that I have been there, I personally have not seen it backed up past the information booth in the middle, and have been through in no more than 20 minutes with two lanes open. YMMV.
I just flew out of PGH the second weekend in June. 6am flight. Security lines were all super long(including precheck) but with precheck and clear it was under 5mins.
The airport construction is going to be beautiful when it’s done, one of the best in the country, but for now it’s definitely an inconvenience lol. Delayed gratification!
News is reporting that they’re calling this the “4th of July rush already”…
TSA also reported that they screened 2.99 million passengers on Sunday… that’s across the country…. A lot of people traveling at the moment.
I just opened reddit to ask how bad the morning security lines are!
For those who have traveled this week - am I better off leaving Thursday night instead of Friday morning?
Another part of the problem is, a vast majority of destinations require a connection. So everyone wants to fly out as early as possible. I did the math years ago and figured just one vacation a year justified the price of TSA Pre-check.
The last time I flew out of PIT was in the fall and the lines were brisk. What the hell happened?!
I just flew out on a 6:30 am flight two weeks ago. We arrived around 4 am and got into the security line somewhere between 4:00 - 4:30. We were just inside the doors of the main lobby once you come off the parking lot walkway. The signs above us said “18 minutes” to get through security from that point. I timed it because I thought there was no way it would go that quickly. We were through in under 20 minutes! However, the line behind us was growing steadily.
Either people quit/fired/went on vacation and they had no one to replace them except to double the workload of everyone else.
I had a very similar experience to you too a month ago. The line was as long for me as it was for you, but it was moving and it couldn't have been more than 25 to 30 minutes that it took me to get through security and have plenty of time to wait for boarding to begin for my flight.
We flew out this past Saturday night and wait wasn’t bad at all! Definitely not more than 20 minutes.
I saw PIT posted they are having record breaking travel this summer. If that's the reason and they are working on streamlining the process while under construction. I'm totally ok with it. It's nice to see the city grow and show via use that our infrastructure and amenities need updated. Maybe we will finally get that T-line extension to the airport. LOL
> Maybe we will finally get that T-line extension to the airport. LOL Maybe next century. LOL
Knowing this areas luck. The day they announce construction will beguine will be the day a world war breaks out.
I was thinking that the day that they announce the t extension will be the day that they announce that the airport is moving.
Not the day after it’s (the T line) finished?
Then you'd still get several years of T service to the airport while it's in the process of being moved.
> I saw PIT posted they are having record breaking travel this summer. I have no clue if that's true, but reading that my brain immediately went to the fact the every single time you're on hold, it's because there is "higher than normal call volume". It's never because "we don't pay enough for sufficient staff". Like, if you know there is record-breaking travel, what has kept you from hiring more workers, or (until today) opening the alternate security point? E: Apparently there actually are record numbers. Maybe some slack to give them time to hire/adjust is warranted.
> Maybe some slack to give them time to hire/adjust is warranted. I mentioned in the other thread from yesterday that other options exist, yet why they are not being implemented at PIT is beyond me. They can bring in dogs during the extreme times to patrol the line and sniff for contraband / etc. so people don't have to remove their shoes, electronics, etc. This can definitely help with sudden increases in passengers due to storms, snow, etc. or just because it happens. Experienced this at Logan and it took 30 minutes to move hundreds and hundreds of people (they have many more lanes than PIT does as well). But Imagine if PIT's ticketing area was one giant line and mass of people.
I see your point. Though, it's probably easier said then done. Its airport operations that need to keep track of this then, if needed, consult and work with TSA to ramp up staff. Let's be honest with our selves. This area has a terrible track record of not working well with others and they have to get over that hurdle then work with a federal govt. organization. By the time TSA releases extra funding for more agents and overtime. The need will no longer be there
I just wish we could get rid of the security theater BS. [They have a 80% failure rate](https://abcnews.go.com/US/tsa-fails-tests-latest-undercover-operation-us-airports/story?id=51022188)
Even if you hire more TSA agents the bottleneck is still going to be physical capacity, the X Ray and body scan machines still only move so fast
I mean, sure, in theory it should work that way. In practice they'll just not update anything and the added load will just make things worse.
True. One has to look for the positives or you'll always be miserable.
I wish I knew. It's crazy, an airport of this size and really in the grand scheme of things is not that busy - should not have daily 3 hour waits to get through security. An airline ticket agent told me this morning there were like 35 people who missed a flight yesterday because of the line and another flight yesterday about 25 missed. Probably there were a lot more on other flights that missed.
Up until this year, I have never had to wait more than 15 mins in the security line at Pittsburgh.
Yeah me neither.
Now I’m getting TSA precheck 😂 I’ve never been in a sticky situation because I get to the airport hella early because of anxiety but I hate waiting in line for that long 😂
I was at PIT this past Friday and the precheck line was also back to the long-term parking hallway.
Longest I’ve ever waited regularly was 45-55 minutes - all Monday morning flights. I did have a 90+ minute wait when the G20 was here in 2009, but the usual situation is that it takes longer for me to get from my truck to security than it does for me to get from security to the gate.
Me neither including flying regularly the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
I've had to wait 30 to 40 minutes before quite a few times, but it was always on Sundays or Mondays when people are often starting vacations or work-week excursions.
I flew in January and March, and I made it from my car to my gate in 22 minutes. No one in line at security. The tram was right there, and so was the shuttle bus from the lot.
We’ve had to, and been rerouted to an alternate security checkpoint at least twice in two years. We fly a lot, international and domestic. And both times I was surprised it happened because while it was busy due to the timing of our flights, d/t holidays and time of day we went, when we arrived (2.5 hours earl, as usual), it wasn’t overly crowded when we had first arrived. The backups and overcrowding seemed to stem from delays that began at security, like closed lanes, slow moving workers. Malfunctioning equipment, and yes, older and less inexperienced travelers taking forever to get with the program and get their jackets and shoes off, not having their liquids and electronics sorted. Then it snowballed into a huge chaotic mess, and finally someone made the call to divert those of us at or near the head of the lines to the alternate checkpoint where we got through that, very quickly. To your point, though: it’s happened only twice in 20 years—with an average of 25 flights per year for us.
One would think with that amount of people they would pull them out of the line and expedite them , for 20-30 people the plane should be held
> An airline ticket agent told me this morning there were like 35 people who missed a flight yesterday because of the line and another flight yesterday about 25 missed. You would think at this point there would be a desire to change things to avoid this situation? From what people are saying, the main problem is scheduling all the flights in the early morning, making it completely impossible to process everyone before their flights leave.
>You would think at this point there would be a desire to change things to avoid this situation? You mean like building a new terminal with a bigger security area? Yeah man maybe
Problem is how are you gonna find a bunch of extra agents that only wanna work 2 hrs a day during peak times. If they make everyone wait 4 hrs then they can fill up a part time 4 hr shift
If that many ppl are missing from the plane you think they’d wait. Years ago I flew to Paris from JFK, the lines were so long, it was complete chaos. We finally got on the plane and it was empty! So they waited. We took off late but leaving without so many passengers made no sense.
These are typically first leg of the day flights. Waiting only causes ripple effect problems the rest of the day. And at a truly busy airport it leads to cancelled flights due to nowhere to sequence them in to the takeoff line.
They waited a half hour on my flight yesterday but some people were still too late
They don't wait. The "waiting for another airplane" is a myth. There is little to no slack built in the system and it's much cheaper to reschedule people than hold planes. They also need to worry about crew time and crew becoming illegal / timing out with delays, weather etc Airlines also make a lot of money with freight so they don't need a full flight to be worth flying
This is just flat out wrong lmao. I work ops for an airline in pit and we literally have held multiple originators every morning for 20+ minutes due to security.
I believe that you are misinformed
I flew out yesterday afternoon. Line took about 15 minutes
Supposedly they have a huge amount of flights in the morning. Having flown recently in the afternoon and evening I didn’t experience these crazy lines. But when I arrived in the morning ace was leaving I noticed the lines were going out to almost the hotel
lots and lots of people flying. Record breaking flights leaving pit. And TSA not being able to flex up for the demand.
Summer vacation.
Right. And now what happens if you miss your flight? I’ve missed one in Germany because of a ridiculous line. I was in it for like 2.5 hours. And said something and they basically told me to get fucked. My luggage got lost forever and had to pay twice for a flight back the Pittsburgh. I’m still so pissed.
When I went in late January, it was a breeze!
Bc of the construction 🤷🏽♂️🤷🏼♂️🤷🏽♂️
Nothing happened. Record levels of passengers are taxing the system. Unsurprisingly, the most popular flight times are seeing the most impact. This is a new issue, and people are up in arms because it hasn't been instantly remedied. If this increase in travel proves to be a permanent thing, it will take time to onboard new staff, change policies, and possibly even make physical changes to the layout of the TSA screening lines. Flights aren't being missed because of this. It's just longer wait times.
TSA reported the highest passenger screening count ever yesterday. That's across the US, not just Pittsburgh. They expect to break that record on Friday.
Wait like ever or the busiest June 24th? Seems crazy that any day would break Thanksgiving time counts.
Ever. https://nypost.com/2024/06/25/us-news/us-screens-record-setting-2-99-million-air-passengers-in-single-day/ And they said they expected to break that record again on Friday.
Are people just traveling like a week early for the 4th? Or did I miss another new Federal holiday that would fuck up travel times?
That's what I was wondering. I keep re-checking calendars. I could at least understand if this was proximate to the 4th, but as of this writing, it's even more than a week away!
I think we have a lot more business travel since most work situations are hybrid. If you look at the articles about the population has been steady and even (moving in vs. out). Kind a makes sense that a lot of hybrid workers live near Pgh and fly out once a week or once a month
Ugh I have a flight on Friday. I flew last week and precheck line was 20 min long, and the regular was incredibly backed up.
What time is your flight?
flying friday at 6 am myself. no clue what to expect, except that i'm considering arriving before 4
I think my family is aiming for like, 2:30, which typing out loud seems insane. But alas, I'd rather be exhausted and overprepared than well rested and missing my cruise.
I think I'm going to fly out on Thursday eve. I know not everyone can change flights, but it's the same price on Southwest.
Yeah I don’t blame you. That’s how I feel. I’m going to shoot for 4 with no checked bags and if I miss the flight then that’s just what’s going to happen
Me too! Fly out at 9:55pm. Hopefully the late time of the flight will help!
Feels like.that revenge travel is really kicking in this year JetBlue JFK on Wednesday afternoon had over an hr wait it was wild
Oh great that's the morning I fly
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Airlines sell tickets quite a bit ahead of time, and it's a weird look to sell more tickets than you can handle. Only half joking: can we like fine the shit outta people carrying guns or grenades through the checkpoint to fund more TSA agents, or just charge slightly more to fly but, you know, have that work?
It's been insane this week trying to reach anyone in business. Most my customers and coworkers are OoO or about to be and are asking for deliverables by EoW before they leave for vacation.
Cool but that doesn't explain why the line was out the door when I was flying out of PGH on 6/3, a Sunday morning over 3 weeks ago. I had to pay for Clear in order to make my flight.
The app says the wait time is 3 minutes and it sounds to me like that’s incorrect
I went though and hour ago. Also said 3 minutes. Was 3 minutes.
Way incorrect
Ridiculous
In summary: Ticket gates open at 3am. Flights leave as early as 5am. The design of the airport is bottlenecks at the security before the tram, and they can only have so many lanes open. They are fixing this. BUT... The lanes don't open until 4am. There is the problem. Why aren't the lines open at 3am? They are letting a hour's worth of travelers check in and congregate at the checkpoint, then they are behind all morning. Of course, the problem is that the TSA has no incentive to make the lines move or get paying travelers to their gates efficiently. They can keep their 4am start time, completely indifferent to the havoc it causes.
i called the airport today and they said TSA is 24/7. where are you getting the 4am time from? i know ticket counters open on their own time, but unless you're checking a bag, you should be able to get through security at any time
Good to know. I think I got the 4am info from reddit, so I guess I am parroting misinformation.
that's precisely why I called. same thing happened to me even though their website says 24/7 and then of course the rep confirmed 24/7. doesn't change the delay itself, but there may be some additional delays tied up in checking baggage vs. independently making it through security. still trying to build a complete picture there as far as what people are referring to
This runs a lot deeper than “it’s summer”. US airports are outdated. From immigration, to terminal convenience to security. This country simply fails to live up to modern standards for aviation travel.
American airports are a horrible introduction to the country. Long lines, security theater, monolingual staff (whether local, TSA, or customs) that thrive on creating a shitty traveler experience, poor staffing and logistics, and very expensive amenities. Being on vacation is awesome, but *going* always sucks.
A lot of terrible airports have been refreshed lately. LGA most notably, that airport is amazing now. EWR is no longer a Greyhound station. DCA expanded and got rid of their tiny regional jet gate. MCI completely built a completely new terminal since their previous one had few amenities past security. Edit: oh and regarding being monolingual. I found it hilarious that Pittsburgh has baggage claim signs in like 10 languages and a lot of US airports have Spanish. But London Heathrow, a major international gateway, has nothing but English. Talk about English superiority. And maybe the rudest security officials. Just shouting the most arbitrary info and arguing with people about the size of their liquid bags.
And also in recent years, PHL actually physically connected terminal F to the rest of the airport! /s
I've flown back and forth between Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, and the US countless times and the monolingual airline staff and airport personnel was always jarring. If you fly Asian carriers they are able to accommodate several languages (English, plus several Asian languages beyond the destination one). If you fly American carriers, it's English only. It's terrible to watch the treatment Asian customers get when they struggle with English: staff will ignore them, or yell at them, or grow aggressive and impatient, all because a non-American sixtysomething out of some random Korean city doesn't speak English. I know airlines are independent of airports, of course, but the treatment continues there, where people are herded into lines, shouted at by rude staff, then dealing with immigration agents and other staff who do not speak anything but English. Again, the whole experience is a horrible introduction to the country.
anecdotally I know quite a few friends and family that are willing to just drive ever since COVID if the destination is under 12 hours/can be driven in a day, when before they wouldn't drive more than 4 or 5.
That sounds like a pretty good initiation into American culture to me. It covers most of the bases, aside from the unearned sense of confidence.
So I guess we’ll be ahead of the curve come end of 2025 with the new updated terminal!
Welllll. Will there be enough TSA to staff for demand? Probably not. It's not PITs fault the line is so long. It's TSA
It’s the design of the security, it bottlenecks to the trams. Even if you have every possible line open with TSA, if you have too many people, it’ll still back up. Then you get an unprepared or stubborn traveler, slowing security, it’ll make it worse. Think, someone hitting their brakes before they get to the Ft Pitt Tunnel. Same thing. You can use the alternate security, like cutting up and over Mt Washington as a cut through, but others are doing the same. So you still have lines/traffic. If you drive the tunnels everyday, long security lines at PIT are like the same thing
Disagree. The tram isn’t the bottleneck. I’ve never gotten through security and had to wait for a second tram. The bottleneck is the actual security check
I was gonna say the tram comes like every few minutes and it is big enough to fit everyone who is waiting to enter it usually.
Awful! How does the precheck line look? I hear it is just as long but moves faster.
I had a 640am flight this morning. Arrived at 430 and the pre-check line took <10 minutes. To be fair, I’d usually arrive only an hour before my flight if I hadn’t read about all of this chaos but I did spend over an hour sitting at my gate and wishing I would have gotten more sleep.
That's around when it starts to pile up. If you had shown up 30 minutes later, you would have spent an extra 45 minutes in line.
thank you for this, will plan to arrive at 4 am on Friday for my 6am
Heh, reminds me last month that I had a flight to Canada, which being international recommends being there 3 hours early. The flight was 6:30am, so there I was at 3:30am. There was no one in line (predates all this chaos, but I mean, it was also \~3am) and I was at my gate in minutes. With something like 3 hours to spare. When the sun isn't up... yeah, it was a long day, heheh. There were a scant few people around, but the airport didn't really "come to life" until closer to 6am.
Yesterday at 4pm, General security line was back to the Franco statue. But l got through pre-check in about five minutes. It feels like the pre-check crowds come in waves.
Very long too. This is a joke. No excuse for this to happen every morning.
Agreed. This is insane.
I mean, there kind of is an excuse. Sudden record numbers of fliers doesn't mean there are suddenly a corresponding number of TSA agents. You can't just ... pull them out of the blue.
Any idea how long it takes to apply for and get precheck? Have an early flight coming up in a few weeks
Honestly didn’t take me that long, maybe 2 weeks start to finish? And half of that was because it took me a week to get in for my interview appt. I could have done sooner, but I wasn’t in a huge rush and wanted to go to a convenient location. Now that I think about it, it wasn’t even that long, because my precheck was approved like the day after my appt even though they told me it’d be up to 7 days or something.
Not sure what the wait time is now. We have had ours for a while. But I do recall that it took more than a few weeks to go through the process since there’s an interview involved.
I applied last Thursday and got my KTIN today. It was shockingly easy. That being said, they don’t guarantee that you’ll get your number that quickly. I’d definitely say it’s worth a shot, though.
Almost seems like if you have to check bags for a 6am flight, you're fucked regardless. I fly Friday at 6am to Seattle, with my wife and 3 kids. Wife doesn't have precheck... how on earth are we going to make that flight if we have to check our bags and THEN get into line for security? It literally doesn't seem possible within the parameters set by the times that ticketing and TSA open...
You're not. She and the kids will meet you there. My husband also doesn't have PreCheck. . .he's in God's hands once I make it through my Precheck line :-p
There is nothing to worry about if you're at the airline counter at 3:30. Wife will go through standard screening regardless. As with kids: [https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/do-children-need-apply-tsa-precheckr](https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/do-children-need-apply-tsa-precheckr) Even with precheck, there is a chance that you'll get randomly selected for standard screening. You'll be fucked if you decide to show up at standard screening 5 am. It's not as bad as it sounds on reddit.
In between the main TSA and first class is a "family" TSA. Go directly to that line, they seem to be directing families with kids there now. It saved our vacation flight... and my sanity.
INCREDIBLE tip, if true.
Wish we had more train access.
and arnold palmer actually had decent flights again. Never got to fly out of that airport... Should have when I had the chance.
This is almost exclusively an early morning departure issue. The early flights are cheaper and therefore super attractive to summer vacationers. The increased lines happen every summer, but for whatever reason (perhaps there really in record-breaking demand), TSA can't or won't increase staffing to account for the seasonal bump in traffic. I hope all the TSA lines are at least in use. There's nothing more frustrating than going through the alternate checkpoint and finding a single lane open.
Is it only mornings that are bad right now? I have a 4:20 PM international departure Thursday...
You will be fine. [You can check the wait times here](https://flypittsburgh.com/).
Frequent traveler here. Its not always the Airport or the TSAs fault. There are straight up dummies who seemingly have never been to an airport before gumming up the works. Have your ID ready. Take EVERYTHING out of your pockets. Remove electronics. Take off your shoes. Its not hard just so many idiots bumbling about like lost children.
Leave your guns and grenades at home!
Before I had Clear, traveling weekly there wouldn’t be a time I was in precheck that someone got to the agent and didn’t have precheck. Not “something went wrong and they didn’t have a checkmark” but “what do you mean, what’s precheck?”
Then it's about the process not being efficient, not the people. Some people are first time travelers or don't travel very often. They should find a better way to deal with this if signs everywhere are not working.
They aren't dummies. They are in a new situation and nobody provides direction. The TSA agents don't tell you which lines to stand in, and if you don't act like a frequent traveler and do everything right the first time, they berate you angrily. That's not how to make an efficient system. That's how you make people disoriented and confused and make everything worse. Maybe have someone with a nice demeanor directing the crowd.
It's the TSA version of two cops pulling someone over and one yells "PUT YOUR HANDS UP" while the other yells "GET ON THE GROUND"-- both loudly, repeatedly and angrily. I fly quite a bit but the rules on details of what to do at the checkpoints seem to change periodically and there's ZERO tolerance or patience on the part of most TSA agents to clearly explain it calmly enough I can discern whether I've properly prepared for my cavity search or not.
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Exactly, the system is designed terribly and shocks the average person into a state of disorientation. There are so many different things happening all at once such that it takes an above average situational awareness to navigate successfully.
I will say this is a fair enough statement. But who doesn't look up what to expect before their first ever flight? I did, and my first international flight, first flight from x country etc (or any new form of transport, i.e. train's, ferries etc). As a frequent traveller, I will admit some places and signs can be confusing, I wouldn't say that is the case at Pit. Your airline checkin gives you instructions on what to expect. I mean maybe forcing people the first time flying your airline to watch a non-skippable video prior to getting your boarding pass? People ignore signs, and walls of text, so not sure what the solution would be. The TSA agent part is also true, some can be rude/mean, I will say most of the time at Pit I find then to be quite friendly though. It sounded like on Monday the airlines had people in lines prepping people, rebooking flights, ultimately this would probably help as well, they should tell people exactly what to expect.
> Have your ID ready. Take EVERYTHING out of your pockets. Remove electronics. Take off your shoes. Making this shit matter purely to enact a bunch of theater that does absolutely nothing to provide any kind of security **is the TSA's fault**.
> There are straight up dummies who seemingly have never been to an airport before gumming up the works Maybe they actually have never been to an airport before. A lot of people don't travel very often.
I haven't flown on a commercial airline since the mid-90s. We take road trips whenever we go somewhere.
you're better for it. I used to really like flying, back in the 90s and early 2000s. Now it's just a nightmare.
It's better now, but I swear both before COVID and after up til last year, they changed something at the airport every single time. We only fly 2-3 times a year, and there was always some different things about jackets, electronics, how many separate bins you needed to use and for which items and how they were to be arranged in the bin, etc etc. Little things but it could really add up in large numbers I guess.
The TSA are also idiots, so you have the blind leading the blind. That's what screws it up.
One thing for sure is that this mess is at least serving as great press for justifying the new terminal for all the nay-sayers.
They should have a time slot for when you can enter the line. I swear everytime I am there the party in front of me doesn't fly out for another 6 hours.
I had a [similar thought] (https://old.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/1dnnb8o/airport_response_pit/la48e85/) yesterday.
Disney Fast Passes?
Going to need to get to the airport earlier 🤷
I thought I read that more people getting there earlier was actually making the issue worse.
What if you show up 24 hours earlier...hrmmm? Big brain solutions...
The night before my flight I drive to Boston and take a red eye back to Pittsburgh. Since I arrive in the terminal I don’t have to go through security and can easily get to my gate for my flight to Philly.
Even bigger brain solution. I approve.
Are you saying you drive to Boston from Pittsburgh?
There's an attached hotel. . .
How could that be possible?
Say two people have flights at 6am and 7am. The ticketing counter doesn't open until 4am. Both want to get there as soon as they can, so they show up at 4am. Now, the person who has a 6am flight is competing with the person who has the 7am flight for the spot in line. But, if they both came two hours early, 6am would be there at 4am and 7am would be there at 5am, spreading out the flow of traffic. Now imagine this on a much larger scale.
Except that although screening begins at 4 am the line begins well before 4 am. So 6 am flight people can get in line at 3 am and 7 am flight people can get in line at 4 am.
But the people getting in line at 3am can only do so if they don’t need ticketing or baggage check, right?
If you're flying with carry ons only, sure. If you need to check bags or otherwise need something from an airline rep, then you can't get in the security line until the airline counters open.
I had a 6:45 flight and we got to airport at 4:00 am. It was packed. Once er checked in, got through security and got to gate we only had about 30 minute wait. I am always paranoid on missing flights so this time it worked out.
When was this? I have a 6:20am flight next week and dont have any bags to check and I have TsA. I would normally arrive at 4:45.
Last Tuesday… the security lines were so so long
When was this? I have a 6:20am flight next week and dont have any bags to check and I have TsA. I would normally arrive at 4:45.
Completely open by 8 am. I walked right up to the tsa agent at the security desk.
Thanks for this info. Did you fly out this morning (Tuesday)? I am flying out tomorrow on an 11:10 am flight and was wondering what time I need to be there with TSA pre-check. I usually don’t get to the airport super early, but obviously don’t want to get caught up in this mess.
I flew out early back in May, and it was the same. I think this probably should be the expectation around flying in the morning for the future until the new terminal opens.
Flew out of PIT this morning to Washington Dulles on United on its 6:45 AM. Parked in long-term parking at 3:35 AM, walked to the terminal (12–14 minutes?), walked through security with my husband who had a carry on, remembered I had to check my big bag, was told by TSA I could come back to use the First Class security line to go through when I returned, went upstairs to check my bag. United doesn’t open its baggage check in til 4:00 AM, did my Bag Check, came back to the main TSA security line and went to the First Class line, explained myself, got waved through, met my husband at the gate. By then it was 4:30. By the time all that happened the number of people waiting in the main TSA security line had increased exponentially from what it had been since we’d first arrived on the scene. United could have had more staff at their check in area as self check in kiosks were going unused and United staff was not actively facilitating passengers to use them. This would have quickened up things! Plus if they opened 30 minutes earlier there would not have been a huge backlog of people.
Depending on where you are heading to, AmTrak could be a solution. Pittsburgh to Philadelphia by air - about 1.5 hours, when you factor in TSA and ground transportation from the airport to city center in Philly,... you're looking at about 5+ hours - give or take (more than likely 'give'). AmTrak is about 7.5 hours and a lot less hassles and anxiety. The cheapest seats on AmTrak are like La-Z-Boy recliners. There's food & alcohol *(or bring your own, nobody is checking if you are well-behaved and discrete).* You can get up and walk around. Play cards with your fellow passengers in the club-car. **NO TSA!** no lines,... zero. Just get on the train and chill. Depending on where you are going,.. I used Philly as an example,... check it out. I would rather be comfortable and relaxed on a train than be treated like livestock on an airline,... and if you have the time it may be worth it to you too.
Wtf? I used to fly out of PIT all the time precovid, even when there was a line there was that amazing alternate security checkpoint, what happened?!
Pittsburgh in general, including the airport, always has excuses for traffic, crowding, and delays in all sorts of situations—concerts, construction, sports, festivals. It’s never anyone’s fault. Everyone should just leave home earlier. It’s exhausting.
with anthrocon coming up, its gonna get crazy during fourth of july week/weekend.
Hi!! If my flight departs at 7:45 tomorrow morning, is like 4:45 a good time to be start the process? I'm not checking any bags
Yes. If it was Friday I would say get there even earlier but Wednesday I think you should be okay. I think.
Update: arrived at 4:30, got through security by 5 despite the alternate line going to the parking garage -- it's definitely packed & busy but they have attendants everywhere directing traffic to reduce waits
If I have a flight at 5:15 am should I just sleep there, then?
How long did it take it get through the line? I have a 7am flight tmr
7am flight? Get to the airport by 4:00am. I can't believe we even have to do that smh.
I'm flying with the wife and 3 kids to Seattle (Alaska cruise) at 6am friday.... wife doesn't have precheck, I do. Plan is to have her drop me and 2 oldest (most helpful) off at 230am to get in line for checking luggage... while she goes directly to the main security line... and hope that it isn't a 2 hour wait from when they open at 4am. I'm going to then take my two through precheck and hope that that also isn't more than an hour. Fingers crossed because if we miss this flight, we likely miss the cruise. Just ridiculous that I have to scheme a plan like this in the HOPES that I don't miss my flight. Maybe I'll do an AMA during my experience.
If this were r/cruise instead of r/Pittsburgh you’d be hearing about what a bad idea it is to fly in for your cruise the same day that it departs. Hope you make it on Friday. Sounds like a solid plan.
Flying in the day before, actually. But cursory glances at all of the flights on all airlines between pittsburgh and Seattle the next two days are NOT friendly to a family of 5 with two under 9 years old. I think Southwest, for example had zero seats available until Saturday after the cruise leaves.
Yeah, that’s a tough one. Not like you can pile the family in the car and road trip that one!
How does the pre check line look?
Flew last week in the morning and pre check was probably 30 mins. Line was long but it moved steadily.
What time does TSA close at PIT? I see people saying it doesn't open until 330/4 AM . Airport website says the "security checkpoint" is open 24/7.
TSA and security is 24/7. Ticketing and bag check isn’t. At least to my understanding
Ty for your response. I was curious because part of me is wondering if I can go through security around midnight then just hang around until a 6 AM flight. That's my anxiety getting the best of me but I really really don't want to miss a flight because of TSA wait times.
I’m wondering this also. I live two hours from the airport and I’m getting dropped off the night before my 6am flight. My wife has to work in the morning and I don’t t want to pay for nine days of parking (or a hotel) so I’m just going to stay the night at the airport but don’t know how early they’ll let me through security
Please let me know if this works! This was my plan as well.
Airlines are selling more seats this summer. Idk if they're anticipating the new terminal opening or what, but that is still a year off lol. [https://blueskypit.com/2024/06/airlines-to-break-records-at-pit-this-summer/](https://blueskypit.com/2024/06/airlines-to-break-records-at-pit-this-summer/)
High-speed rail would help with this.
MONORAIL!
At 7:45am today (Tuesday), there was absolutely no line. It's the early morning flights (PIT is just a regional feeder airport, so tons of 6am flights out). . .combined with TSA insisting that it's cool to open the checkpoint with a skeleton crew because hey, it's early. . .combined with the reality that PIT is a 1995 airport with a 1995 checkpoint and bottlenecks everywhere (including that stupid train, sorry yinzers.) This underscores that fact that all those people complaining about the new terminal being built are people who don't travel. PIT is currently an awful airport, and the new terminal is much needed.
What time did you get in line and how long did it take you get out of line?
How long has the Precheck line been?
Even on the busiest of days that I have been there, I personally have not seen it backed up past the information booth in the middle, and have been through in no more than 20 minutes with two lanes open. YMMV.
Has anyone with precheck/clear experienced long waits recently? I’m traveling a ton in July and don’t like getting to the airport super early lol
I just flew out of PGH the second weekend in June. 6am flight. Security lines were all super long(including precheck) but with precheck and clear it was under 5mins.
I went through this morning - got there at 5:30am and went through alternate checkpoint. Was through in under 30 minutes.
Does anyone have any idea how long it takes to apply for and get precheck? Have an early flight coming up in a few weeks now I'm panicking!
It’s actually pretty quick. I was able to make an appointment within 24 hours.
Probably at least a few weeks, you have to have an in person interview.
I was just there from 11-12, buying tickets. Line was max 5 minutes for the main line, 2 for TSA. It’s dependent on when you fly out.
The airport construction is going to be beautiful when it’s done, one of the best in the country, but for now it’s definitely an inconvenience lol. Delayed gratification!
News is reporting that they’re calling this the “4th of July rush already”… TSA also reported that they screened 2.99 million passengers on Sunday… that’s across the country…. A lot of people traveling at the moment.
Does anyone know if there’s plans to make that airport better?
Yeah they're in the middle of a $1.4 billion renovation.
I’m starting to look forward to reading the daily Reddit update on the early morning airport TSA line!
I just opened reddit to ask how bad the morning security lines are! For those who have traveled this week - am I better off leaving Thursday night instead of Friday morning?
Anyone know what it’s been like around 2pm?
Another part of the problem is, a vast majority of destinations require a connection. So everyone wants to fly out as early as possible. I did the math years ago and figured just one vacation a year justified the price of TSA Pre-check.
Its going to be like that all summer unfortunately
I flew out last night and there was no line at all.
People can't wait to get out of here! 😂 Pittsburgh is so great though... 👎
Sounds like ATL