TSA troubles? Tracking security wait times at major U.S. airports

Airport security lines are always a concern for harried travelers, but the worry has intensified with the government shutdown.

TSA agents, who are working without pay, are calling in sick at higher than normal rates, the agency concedes, leaving some airports short staffed.

On Monday, Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest airport in the world, had checkpoint waits of nearly 90 minutes. The airport also had the longest wait time in the country Wednesday, according to the TSA, but the waits grew shorter, to 39 minutes. Overall on Wednesday, the TSA said 99.9 percent of passengers waited less than 30 minutes and 95.4 percent waited less than 10 minutes in standard lines.

USA TODAY is checking in daily with top U.S. airports to monitor wait times. Note that many busy airports don't post wait times on their websites. Want to check the situation at your home airport or vacation destination? Download the TSA's My TSA App to monitor estimated wait times at any airport.

Here's the situation as of 6 p.m. ET on Thursday ahead of a busy holiday travel weekend. Times posted are the longest wait times. Wait times vary by terminal and time period.

Atlanta: 15-30 minutes for domestic checkpoints, less than 15 minutes at international checkpoint.

Denver: 12 minutes at North Security, 14 at Bridge Security and 16 minutes at South Security.

New York JFK:  Terminals 1, 2, 7 and 8 have wait times of 12 minutes or less. Terminal 5 is showing a maximum wait of 19 minutes, while Terminal 4 is 35 minutes.

New York LaGuardia: 3-7 minutes. The longest waits are in A and D gates in Terminal B.

Phoenix: 6-13 minutes. The longest wait is at the A gates in Terminal 4.

Minneapolis: 5 minutes or less in Terminal 2 (Humphrey terminal.) Terminal 1 (Lindbergh) terminal figures not available due to construction.