CLE Central Checkpoint security wait times: what to expect
From October 13 to November 9 we logged 66,755 security checkpoint readings at CLE Central Checkpoint. The standard lane averaged 15 minutes. 0% of standard-lane readings were 10 minutes or less, and none were over half an hour.
That is in line with CLE as a whole.
When the line is longest
Waits at Central Checkpoint barely change through the day, staying close to 15 minutes.
| Time of day | Standard |
|---|---|
| Early morning (4–8 AM) | 15 min |
| Morning (8 AM–noon) | 15 min |
| Midday (noon–4 PM) | 15 min |
| Evening (4–8 PM) | 15 min |
| Night (8 PM–4 AM) | 15 min |
Average wait across the last 28 days. A dash means the lane is usually closed then.
PreCheck at Central Checkpoint
The feed for Central Checkpoint does not report a separate TSA PreCheck line, so the figures above cover the standard lane only.
How early to arrive
To plan your arrival, use the worst hour rather than the average: at Central Checkpoint that is 15 minutes in the standard lane around midnight. Allow that on top of your airline's check-in and bag-drop deadlines, and more on Sundays and holiday weekends. The live board above shows what the line is doing right now, and the chart projects the next 12 hours.
Other terminals at CLE
| Terminal | Standard avg | PreCheck avg | Busiest hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Checkpoint | 15 min | — | 9 AM |
| South Checkpoint | 15 min | — | 6 AM |
Where these numbers come from
Each airport publishes its own checkpoint wait estimates. This site reads them every minute and keeps every reading. Closed lanes are left out of the averages, and times are local to the airport. The averages above cover the last 28 days and are recalculated every hour. The posted wait is the airport's estimate, not a timed measurement, so treat it as a guide.
The full archive is free to download as an open dataset, and the about page explains who runs the site and why.