Passengers flying out of Terminal 2 at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) were warned of long delays on Thursday morning after the North Carolina hub faced IT difficulties at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint.
TSA lanes were down, as was touchless screening, which passengers say created lengthy wait times of up to an hour. RDU officials had been working with the TSA in the early morning to fix the issues as quickly as possible and keep travelers moving to avoid missed flights.
TSA Outage Led To Long Delays At RDU
An RDU spokesperson said four TSA screening lanes were down and out of service, with the touchscreen option also temporarily unavailable. The outage reportedly began around 6 AM EST, when passengers experienced wait times ranging from 45 minutes to 60 minutes, WRAL News said, which had been in contact with travelers at the airport.
“Line for TSA in Terminal 2 has stayed consistently long for the past hour. It is wrapped around the windows, reaching the doors,” one person at RDU said.
While frustrating for travelers waiting in long lines, RDU only faced a small number of departure and arrival delays, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. No cancellations have occurred so far.
RDU Delays And Cancellations On Thursday, July 30
|
Status |
Departures |
Arrivals |
|
Delayed: |
5 (1% of flights) |
9 (3% of flights) |
|
Canceled: |
RDU says on its website that it still recommends passengers arrive at least two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international departures.
TSA Wait Times At RDU Have Since Returned To Normal
After the initial early morning disruption, TSA wait times have since returned to normal at RDU. The technical issues with several security lanes were resolved.
Some passengers who went through RDU at 8 AM EST reported no delays. “I had no issues going through security at 8:00am,” one passenger said in a comment on a news post by WRAL TV.
On any normal day, the hub’s TSA wait times are typically short, though RDU says security wait times vary, depending on flight volume and time of day.
“Most passengers move through screening in under 30 minutes, though lines may be longer during peak hours,” RDU says.
The airport advises travelers to “allow extra time during peak travel periods, holidays and busy morning or evening hours.”
RDU’s Terminal 2 is a major domestic and international operation, so any interruption to TSA can have significant domino effects on passengers. The 36-gate-strong terminal, served by 12 airlines, handles the majority of the airport’s volume, which totals over 400 daily flights.
Ranked list of airlines with scheduled passenger flights at Raleigh-Durham (RDU) by
flights next month.
Overall, RDU is the 34th busiest U.S. airport for passenger arrivals and departures; it saw 11.8 million passengers in 2022, with 17 major airlines offering flights to and from the hub, its website says. According to RDU, passengers can fly nonstop to 90 destinations, including 76 domestic cities and 14 international destinations across 11 countries.
RDU Has Faced Previous TSA Incidents In Recent Months
Thursday morning’s out-of-service issues at TSA aren’t isolated; on a busy Saturday in May 2024, RDU’s security operations shut down for around 20 minutes, citing improper procedure during screening.
In a separate incident on the morning of 30 March 2026, an anonymous threat called in at 4:20 AM EST led to the evacuation of RDU’s Terminal 1. The airport confirmed the threat on X (formerly Twitter) at the time.
Passengers were stuck in long TSA lines during the ordeal, and early morning flights experienced delays and cancellations as well, primarily impacting American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Frontier Airlines. The airport reopened at around 6 AM EST after authorities swept the terminal.
