Holiday travelers at DFW International Airport or Dallas Love Field should plan ahead and consider security wait times before they hop on a flight to friends, family or their winter getaway.
According to a new study from Upgraded Points, Love Field ranks No. 11 out of the top airports in the country with the busiest Transportation Security Administration security line wait times, an average of 7.6 minutes, a 7.8% decrease compared to its annual average. DFW Airport ranks No. 45 on the list of 63 air hubs with an average of 4.3 minutes. For passengers with TSA precheck, Love Field has an average wait time of 2.1 minutes and at DFW Airport precheck takes 1.8 minutes.
The worst day of the week for TSA wait times, according to Upgraded Points, is Sunday at Love Field and Wednesday at DFW Airport.
Of course, the two airports have very different approaches to their security lines, with one single checkpoint at Dallas Love Field and 15 security checkpoints at DFW spread across five terminals. However, American Airlines-dominated DFW Airport handles about five times the number of passengers, with 73.3 million in 2022. Love Field, the home of Southwest Airlines in the area, had 16 million passengers arriving and departing in 2022.
The busiest days to travel at both Dallas-area airports are Nov. 26, 25 and 27, based on the number of flights to and out of Dallas Love Field and DFW International Airport and the seats available from Cirium.
At Love Field, the busiest day to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday will be right before the holiday on Nov. 22, when there are 69,864 available seats on 440 arriving and departing flights. At DFW Airport, the busiest day to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday will be after the holiday on Nov. 26, when there are 290,485 seats available and 1,993 flights.
From Nov. 16 to 28, DFW Airport is projecting 2.86 million travelers, an increase of 9% compared with the same period last year.
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