Chicago Airport Security Line Wait Times Improve After Epic Delays

Average security wait times at Chicago airports dropped below 10 minutes the last full week of May, Chicago Aviation officials said, as the Transportation Security Administration rapidly promoted staff to front-line security positions and reorganized executive management.

Earlier in May, O’Hare passengers waited three or four hours in some cases, forcing airlines to strand people overnight after they missed their flights.

TSA leader Peter Neffenger has met with Chicago officials. One result is that the city will be publishing a biweekly security wait time report in conjunction with TSA, helping monitor issues and provide passengers and local officials with more data. The first report came out last week.

That first report showed that security wait times during morning peak departure slots have remained much higher, averaging around 40 minutes at O’Hare International Airport May 15-22. Peak wait times at Midway were 44 minutes for the same period, down from 65 minutes, city officials said.