Columbus (CMH) TSA wait times
Security at John Glenn Columbus International Airport is running about 8 minutes in the standard lane, and usually runs 5 to 15 minutes at noon on a Friday. PreCheck is moving in about 3 minutes.CMH security is about 8 minutes now, usually 5 to 15 at this hour. Busiest 5 to 6 AM and 3 to 5 PM.
Standard lane, right now
Security wait, last 7 hours
Usually 5 to 15 minutes now
Down 6 min since 6 am.
How long is security at Columbus, and when is CMH busiest?
So how long is security at Columbus? The left chart shows the Columbus security wait time hour by hour, built from CMH's own departure schedule. The right ranks the days of the week by how long the wait gets. The calmest window is 4 to 8 PM; plan around the 5 to 6 AM and 3 to 5 PM rushes.Calmest 4 to 8 PM. Plan around the morning and evening rushes.
Planning a trip through CMH? Work out when to leave home for your flight, or read how these numbers are made. Flying a nearby airport instead? Compare Columbus (LCK) and Dayton (DAY), or every airport in Ohio.
Departures, the next few hours
| Hour | Departures | Typical security wait |
|---|---|---|
| noon (Now) | 6 flights | 8 min |
| 1 pm | 7 flights | 9 min |
| 2 pm | 7 flights | 9 min |
| 3 pm | 8 flights | 10 min |
| 4 pm | 9 flights | 11 min |
Standard, PreCheck, and CLEAR security lanes
Flying out of Columbus: what to know
Three concourses, three checkpoints
Columbus has one terminal with three concourses, A, B and C, and a separate checkpoint at the entrance to each. Reporting on whether the concourses connect airside is mixed, so the safe plan is to clear at the checkpoint for your own concourse. Southwest uses Concourse A; American, Delta, United and Alaska use Concourse B; regional and other flights use Concourse C.
PreCheck and CLEAR at all three
All three checkpoints offer TSA PreCheck lanes, so PreCheck travelers get an expedited line at whichever concourse they are flying from. CLEAR Plus lanes are also present at all three checkpoints, Concourse A, B and C. A TSA PreCheck enrollment desk sits at Checkpoint B in the center of the landside terminal, where CLEAR ambassadors can sign you up with no appointment.
Friday and Sunday peaks; match your gate
Fridays in the afternoon and Sunday evenings are the busiest stretches, along with the usual 5 to 8 a.m. weekday morning push; Tuesdays and Wednesdays are lightest. Because each concourse has its own checkpoint, the key is to go straight to the checkpoint matching your gate rather than the nearest one, since clearing at the wrong concourse can mean a walk back around landside.
Regional carriers fly these routes under the mainline brands, so a SkyWest flight shows on your ticket as Delta, United, American or Alaska.
CMH security, common questions
How early should I get to CMH?
For a domestic flight out of Columbus, plan to be inside the terminal about an hour before departure, and about an hour and a quarter for an international one. That covers a 15 to 30 minute checkpoint queue at the Friday peak plus the walk to the gate. Outside the peak you can safely trim it; the calculator above works it out from your actual departure time.
What is the busiest time at CMH security?
Friday around 5 am, when 14 departures' worth of passengers are converging on the checkpoint at once. The calmest hour with real traffic is Thursday at 7 pm, at roughly 5 minutes.
Is TSA PreCheck worth it at CMH?
At the Friday peak it turns a 15 to 30 minute queue into something closer to 7 minutes. Over a five year membership that is worth it if you fly more than about three round trips a year through an airport this busy. The trusted traveler calculator prices it against your own flying.
When does security open at CMH?
John Glenn Columbus International Airport does not publish checkpoint opening hours in any national feed, so we will not invent them. What the schedule does show is that the first departures leave around 2 am, and checkpoints generally open about two hours before the first flight of the day.
How long is security at Columbus?
At the Friday peak around 5 am, the standard lane at CMH typically runs 15 to 30 minutes. Away from the peak it settles to roughly 5 minutes. These are modeled from the airport's own departure schedule, so they move hour by hour, which is what the chart on this page shows.
How much time does PreCheck save at CMH?
At the busy Friday peak, PreCheck turns the standard 15 to 30 minute wait into about 7 minutes, a saving of roughly 15 minutes when it matters most. Off-peak the two lanes are much closer, because a short line is short in either one.
Tips for CMH, from the data
- Fly between 4 to 8 PM if you can. That window sits between the two daily rushes, when the checkpoint is at its calmest.
- The 5 am hour is the single busiest today, at about 19 minutes in the standard lane.
- Southwest runs 30% of departures here, so its checkpoints and gates carry the most traffic. Which airline you fly is what decides your terminal.
Related
Modeled from the flight schedule, not measured. How these numbers are made.