Pittsburgh airport advises travelers to arrive up to 3 hours before flights

Passengers could see long security screening waits at the Pittsburgh International Airport this summer, and airport officials are advising travelers to get there extra early, especially for early morning flights.

Airport officials issued a travel alert Monday, advising passengers to get to the airport between two-and-half and three hours early for flights that depart between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m.

“We’re experiencing record-breaking crowds this summer, which means longer than usual TSA security lines,” said officials in a statement. “We’re working with the TSA to streamline the security process as much as possible at PIT.”

Early mornings are always the busiest time at the Pittsburgh International Airport, said spokesman Bob Kerlik, but the air travel is really spiking right now.

Reports of wait times longer than two hours occurred this morning at the airport. Kerlik said there was nothing extraneous that caused the delays, it was just one of the airport’s busiest days this year.

“Early morning is always the busiest time, but it is even more busy right now,” Kerlik said of the summer travel season.

TSA said it screened nearly 3 million travelers nationally Sunday, breaking a record for most people screened in a day.

PLEASE READ‼️ ???? For passengers with flights between 5 - 8 a.m., we advise arriving 2.5 - 3 hours before your flight to allow time for longer security lines. We're experiencing record-breaking crowds, which means longer lines. We're working with TSA to streamline the process. pic.twitter.com/yBpyTJv1ls

— Pittsburgh International Airport (@PITairport) June 24, 2024

Last month was the busiest May that Pittsburgh International Airport has seen in 17 years, with more than 892,000 passengers that month, Kerlik said. That’s an over 10% increase compared to May 2023.

This May also saw more passengers than May 2019, signifying the airport’s full rebound from the pandemic.

Airport officials expect those numbers to remain above pre-pandemic highs, as multiple new flights are coming online this summer.

And those new flights are also part of the reason security lines are longer at the airport, said airport officials.

Southwest Airlines will operate nearly 298,000 roundtrip seats in July, the most it has ever offered in a month at Pittsburgh since starting service in 2005. American Airlines will offer nearly 262,000 seats for the month, the highest the airline has offered in Pittsburgh since 2013.

Kerlik said more than 20 new routes have been added in the last two years, including Delta’s announcement flight to Salt Lake City last week, as well as recent additions from Frontier, Spirit and Southwest.

Security times tend to drop dramatically after the early morning rush at Pittsburgh International. On Monday morning around 10 a.m., wait times were about 25 minutes, according to the airport’s website. Around 5 p.m., security wait times were about 20 minutes.

Pittsburgh generally has much shorter wait times than other U.S. airports.

A 2023 study from luggage company Bounce found New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport had the longest wait times, with an average of over 48 minutes when combining security waits and passport control lines. San Francisco International averaged about 47 minutes and Miami was nearly 46 minutes.

TSA said it expects to to screen more than 32 million travelers from Thursday through July 8, which represents a 5.4% increase over 2023 Independence Day holiday travel volumes.

“We expect this summer to be our busiest ever, and summer travel usually peaks over the Independence Day holiday,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. “The traveling public is on the move, which is a sign of a healthy economy.”

Pittsburghers should expect some relief when the new upgraded $1.5 billion landside terminal is complete in spring of 2025. The new terminal will have 11 security lanes, and a dedicated family lane, essentially doubling the number of lanes currently.