Louisville's international airport installing more security lanes in effort to ease congestion, wait times

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Leaders at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport plan to ease travel troubles ahead of the Fourth of July rush by opening another line at the TSA security checkpoint.

There currently are five TSA checkpoint lanes, and a sixth permanent lane is already planned to open in August. But a temporary "pop-up" lane is being brought in now and could open as early as Thursday, June 29.

Airport leaders shared this news as part of an announcement ahead of the busy July 4 travel weekend. They're hoping the extra lane will help alleviate some of the congestion and long lines travelers have been experiencing during the early morning airport rush hour from 6-8 a.m.

It's rush hour because 40% of the airport's daily volume flies out during those hours. Leaders also say the airport is the fastest-growing airport in the continental United States.

This Friday alone, they're anticipating almost 9,000 passengers through Louisville's airport.

That's why airport leaders needed a temporary solution.

"This demand for summer travel came fast and furious when we really started seeing the capacity and the lines," said Dan Mann, executive director of the airport. "We had a brainstorming session with the TSA and this is why they offered up a seventh pop-up lane."

The pop up lane is not a permanent fix, but airport leaders hope that it will stay in place until the larger buildout is complete.

The airport will send out a bid in January to increase the TSA lines from five to eight total.

The pop-up lane will also be somewhat of a flexible lane, used to speed up both general boarding and TSA pre-check.

Officials said peak wait times to get through TSA are around 86 minutes, which is why they're still encouraging travelers to come between 2 and 2-1/2 hours before your departure to make it in time.