“We are seeing more passengers in the early morning time frame than we did a year ago,” Carney said. “In fact, about one quarter of the total daily passengers are processed in that hour-and-a-half period.” 

During that peak time, the Transportation Security Administration recommends arriving at the terminal at least an hour before departure.

“People are arriving 45 minutes before their 6:30am flight and hoping to breeze through the checkpoint,” says Carney. “Passengers should not count on that. In recent weeks, we have seen numerous people miss flights.” 

The airport is about to enter its summer busy season, and with additional flights added, airport officials anticipate being even busier, especially in the mornings. Frontier Airlines will be adding another nonstop to Denver in May and Southwest Airlines will be adding new nonstop service to Chicago Midway in June. A nonstop flight from Oklahoma City to Ronald Reagan Washington National on Southwest may be added this summer pending approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation.