Denver Airport to No Longer Have 24/7 TSA Checkpoint

Denver International Airport will no longer have a 24/7 TSA checkpoint starting May 5. 

Between the hours of 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., no one will be able to pass through security to enter the airport. According to TSA, the last flight out of Denver is 12:59 a.m. and the next isn’t until 5 a.m., so closing security for a 2-hour overnight period made sense. 

“We only had a handful of people coming through, such as concessions workers,” Lorie Dankers, a spokesperson for TSA Denver, told TMR. “Because we don’t have any flights departing, it didn’t make sense to keep it open. That is why we’ve made the decision to close the checkpoint at 1 a.m. and reopen it at 3 a.m.” 

Dankers added that the decision is also “a way to make our operations more efficient” because the airport can now shift TSA workers’ schedules around to open more lanes during busier hours. 

Other large U.S. airports, such as LAX in Los Angeles and O’Hare International in Chicago, keep only one terminal open 24/7 with minimal lanes operating during the early morning hours. Generally, TSA checkpoint hours vary by terminal. 

Denver International Airport released this statement regarding the change: “TSA informed us that they would be making this decision as part of a staffing reallocation effort and to make their operations more efficient. Based on the TSA data that informed this decision, significant passenger impacts are not expected as there are currently no scheduled flight departures after 1am.” 

Dankers also said that TSA has not received any negative feedback about the move from stakeholders such as airport or TSA workers.