As theories go, “Airport Theory” is not really up there with evolution or relativity. It is a social media phenomenon in which travellers in the US time themselves going through American airports, from bag drop via security to boarding gate.
The theory is that you can often whizz through in 15 minutes. But it is full of holes. For a start, normal passengers at New York JFK Terminal 4 (used by Delta and Virgin Atlantic) will be barely halfway through queuing for security by the end of the first quarter-hour. Many Airport Theory influencers on TikTok and Instagram have evidently paid around $80 (£62) for “PreCheck” – a security fast track with the promise “99 per cent of passengers wait less than 10 minutes”.
