Dallas (DAL) TSA wait times
Security at Dallas Love Field is running about 16 minutes in the standard lane, and usually runs 10 to 25 minutes at 11 am on a Friday. PreCheck is moving in about 6 minutes.DAL security is about 16 minutes now, usually 10 to 25 at this hour. Busiest 5 to 7 AM and 1 to 3 PM.
Standard lane, right now
Security wait, last 7 hours
Usually 10 to 25 minutes now
Down 2 min since 5 am.
How long is security at Dallas, and when is DAL busiest?
So how long is security at Dallas? The left chart shows the Dallas security wait time hour by hour, built from DAL'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 7 AM and 1 to 3 PM rushes.Calmest 4 to 8 PM. Plan around the morning and evening rushes.
Planning a trip through DAL? Work out when to leave home for your flight, or read how these numbers are made. Flying a nearby airport instead? Compare Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Waco (ACT), or every airport in Texas.
Departures, the next few hours
| Hour | Departures | Typical security wait |
|---|---|---|
| 11 am (Now) | 12 flights | 16 min |
| noon | 11 flights | 15 min |
| 1 pm | 11 flights | 14 min |
| 2 pm | 12 flights | 16 min |
| 3 pm | 12 flights | 16 min |
Standard, PreCheck, and CLEAR security lanes
Flying out of Dallas: what to know
One checkpoint, twenty connected gates
Love Field is a single terminal with one security checkpoint and 20 gates, numbered 1 to 20, all on one connected concourse. Clear the checkpoint once and you can walk to any gate airside, so there is no second lane to choose. Southwest Airlines runs almost all departures, using gates 1 to 14 and 16 to 20; Delta uses gate 15.
PreCheck and two CLEAR lanes at the one checkpoint
There is a dedicated TSA PreCheck lane at the single checkpoint, plus two CLEAR lanes for members, with a CLEAR enrollment pod on the west side of the checkpoint entrance. Because the airport has just one checkpoint, both programs sit in the same place and serve every gate, so your airline or gate makes no difference to which lane you can use.
Quick most of the day, watch the morning bank
The checkpoint opens at 4 a.m. and typically clears travelers in 10 to 15 minutes, though peak morning banks can push waits past 25 minutes. Since Southwest drives nearly all the traffic, the busiest stretches track its departure banks, especially early morning. With everything through one checkpoint, arriving ahead of the first big morning push is the simplest way to avoid the longest lines.
DAL security, common questions
How early should I get to DAL?
For a domestic flight out of Dallas, 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 Sunday 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 DAL security?
Sunday around 6 am, when 14 departures' worth of passengers are converging on the checkpoint at once. The calmest hour with real traffic is Wednesday at 8 pm, at roughly 6 minutes.
Is TSA PreCheck worth it at DAL?
At the Sunday 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 DAL?
Dallas Love Field 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 3 am, and checkpoints generally open about two hours before the first flight of the day.
How long is security at Dallas?
At the Sunday peak around 6 am, the standard lane at DAL typically runs 15 to 30 minutes. Away from the peak it settles to roughly 6 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 DAL?
At the busy Sunday 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 DAL, 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 6 am hour is the single busiest today, at about 19 minutes in the standard lane.
- Southwest runs 97% 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.