I wish this was a witty programmer’s joke. But no, since it’s at TSA.gov I assume it’s real — though it’s almost hard to imagine that it is.
“My TSA” gives you 24/7 access to information that passengers frequently request from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).Gee, really? An app to tell you what is allowed in checked baggage?“My TSA” provides a tool to find out if an item is allowed in your carry-on or checked baggage, information on ID requirements and liquids rules, tips for packing and dressing to speed through security, and real-time operating status for U.S. airports from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Real-time waits at security would actually be useful. But since this is from TSA, you know that it won’t be useful.
Wait times are reported by fellow travelers. TSA urges all travelers to arrive at the airport well in advance of scheduled departures.
The four most recent “fellow traveler” reports for my home airport are from 3, 4, 14, and 48 hours ago. And those are all for different checkpoints. Telling me about an 11-20 minute delay on Sunday doesn’t tell me anything about when to turn up today.
Even the Virginia DMV can provide real-time waits at each location online. So the TSA is now officially worse than the DMV.
Someone spent time programming this, and a federal agency paid money for this. The inmates really are running the asylum.
Wow, you’re a cynic!
They’ve published it for a few years but stopped recently. Why?
Our hope is that after a month or two, there will be enough users that the Wait Time feature will be able to give you near real-time status.
If you get an ‘item not found’ in the ‘Can I Bring?’ feature, hit the submit button and we will consider adding it to our database of items.