Airports / California / LAX
Los Angeles (LAX) TSA wait times
Security at Los Angeles International Airport is running about 24 minutes in the standard lane, and usually runs 15 to 35 minutes at 9 am on a Friday. PreCheck is moving in about 8 minutes.LAX security is about 24 minutes now, usually 15 to 35 at this hour. Busiest 6 to 8 AM and 4 to 6 PM.
Standard lane, right now
Security wait, last 7 hours
Usually 15 to 35 minutes now
Up 18 min since 3 am.
How long is security at Los Angeles, and when is LAX busiest?
So how long is security at Los Angeles? The left chart shows the Los Angeles security wait time hour by hour, built from LAX's own departure schedule. The right ranks the days of the week by how long the wait gets. The calmest window is 12 to 4 PM; plan around the 6 to 8 AM and 4 to 6 PM rushes.Calmest 12 to 4 PM. Plan around the morning and evening rushes.
Planning a trip through LAX? Work out when to leave home for your flight, or read how these numbers are made. Flying a nearby airport instead? Compare Long Beach (LGB) and Burbank (BUR), or every airport in California.
Departures, the next few hours
| Hour | Departures | Typical security wait |
|---|---|---|
| 9 am (Now) | 35 flights | 24 min |
| 10 am | 29 flights | 18 min |
| 11 am | 28 flights | 17 min |
| noon | 27 flights | 17 min |
| 1 pm | 25 flights | 16 min |
Standard, PreCheck, and CLEAR security lanes
Terminals and security at LAX
Which airline you fly decides your terminal. Terminal 1 runs the longest lines here. The per-terminal minute is modeled from each terminal's share of departures, not measured. All terminals connect after security, so a quieter checkpoint is an option.
Flying out of Los Angeles: what to know
Security is terminal by terminal
LAX screens at every terminal except Terminal 8, which shares Terminal 7's checkpoint, so in practice each terminal on the horseshoe has its own security. Which terminal you use is set entirely by your airline, and not every terminal connects to the next after you clear, so plan around your own terminal rather than counting on walking between them once you are airside.
Where PreCheck and CLEAR actually are
PreCheck is not at every terminal at LAX. It runs at Terminals 1, 4, 6 and 7 and at the south end of the Tom Bradley International Terminal. CLEAR is wider, at Terminals 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and at Tom Bradley. Terminal 7 and Tom Bradley usually pair the most PreCheck lanes with the fullest staffing, so a connection through either tends to move fastest.
The daily shape, and a warning
LAX runs heavy from before dawn, when the international long-haul and transcontinental banks push at once, and stays busy well into the evening; summer and the holidays magnify both ends. If your airline flies from a terminal without PreCheck, check which checkpoint you are assigned before you arrive, because being sent to a terminal with no PreCheck lane can cost you exactly the time the membership is supposed to save.
Regional carriers fly these routes under the mainline brands, so a SkyWest flight shows on your ticket as Delta, United, American or Alaska.
LAX security, common questions
How early should I get to LAX?
For a domestic flight out of Los Angeles, plan to be inside the terminal about an hour and a quarter before departure, and about an hour and a half for an international one. That covers a 25 to 50 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 LAX security?
Friday around 7 am, when 46 departures' worth of passengers are converging on the checkpoint at once. The calmest hour with real traffic is Wednesday at 10 pm, at roughly 8 minutes.
Is TSA PreCheck worth it at LAX?
At the Friday peak it turns a 25 to 50 minute queue into something closer to 12 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 LAX?
Los Angeles 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 midnight, and checkpoints generally open about two hours before the first flight of the day.
How long is security at Los Angeles?
At the Friday peak around 7 am, the standard lane at LAX typically runs 25 to 50 minutes. Away from the peak it settles to roughly 8 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 LAX?
At the busy Friday peak, PreCheck turns the standard 25 to 50 minute wait into about 12 minutes, a saving of roughly 25 minutes when it matters most. Off-peak the two lanes are much closer, because a short line is short in either one.
Tips for LAX, from the data
- Fly between 12 to 4 PM if you can. That window sits between the two daily rushes, when the checkpoint is at its calmest.
- The 7 am hour is the single busiest today, at about 34 minutes in the standard lane.
- SkyWest runs 21% of departures here, so its checkpoints and gates carry the most traffic. Which airline you fly is what decides your terminal.
- Southwest flies from Terminal 1, which runs the longest lines here. All terminals connect after security, so you can clear at a quieter one and walk over.
Related
Modeled from the flight schedule, not measured. How these numbers are made.