Your airport, your lane
JFK TSA wait times at John F. Kennedy International
Choose the terminal on your boarding pass, then plan your departure.
- 1 Pick your terminal
- 2 Compare your wait
- 3 Plan your departure
Explore the airport mapTerminal locations and orientation
Drag to explore · choose a terminal marker
Source readings
Inspect the source rows behind your checkpoint choices. Missing readings do not mean a checkpoint is closed.
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Inspect Standard lane history by checkpoint
Standard lane history
Observed averages over the past 30 days. Airport-wide averages can combine different checkpoints; your terminal may differ.
JFK playbook
This page is currently backed by 5 live JFK checkpoint readings, so the terminal and checkpoint spread matters more than a single airport-wide average.
John F. Kennedy can have very different line conditions across terminals because traffic is distributed unevenly across international and domestic departure waves.
This page is designed to help you decide whether your specific terminal is the issue or whether the whole airport is running hot.
JFK's public airport feed currently reports checkpoint waits by terminal. Compare your assigned terminal before leaving, because changing terminals means exiting and reclearing security.
Terminals at a glance
JFK splits departing passengers across Terminals 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8, each with its own screening flow.
Terminal 4 and Terminal 8 usually matter most for same-day congestion because of their scale and airline mix.
There is no useful airport-wide average here if your actual terminal is running much hotter than the others.
Airline notes
Terminal 4 is the main Delta-driven volume center, Terminal 5 is JetBlue's terminal, and Terminal 8 carries most American traffic.
Terminal 1 and Terminal 7 matter most for many international and alliance-partner departures, so terminal verification is critical before you leave.
Local tips
JFK terminal traffic can behave like separate mini-airports, so treat the terminal cards above as more important than the overall airport average.
If your terminal is showing a long line while another looks calm, assume your terminal timing is the one that matters for departure planning.
Changing terminals at JFK means exiting and reclearing security, so the wrong terminal assumption carries a real time penalty.