BWI Baltimore, MD

Connecting at Baltimore: Southwest's side, and the D/E side

Last checked 30 September 2026

A connection is when your trip has two flights and you change planes in between. Baltimore's Concourses A, B and C (Southwest and American) and Concourses D and E (Delta, United, JetBlue and others) are two separate sides. Changing from one side to the other means leaving security and going through it again.

Two words used below. Security (also called TSA screening) is the checkpoint where your bags go through a scanner and you walk through a body scanner. Once you're through it, you're in the secure area, the part of the airport with the gates. If you leave the secure area you have to go through security again to get back in.

At a glance

Which concourse is my airline in?

This comes from the airport's own airline list, checked 30 September 2026. Look up both airlines.

Southwest is also listed in Concourse E. If one of your Southwest flights leaves from an E gate, that's on the D/E half. Breeze flies from Concourse E, according to the airport's airline list. The airport's June 2026 release gave 1 October (Vero Beach) and 4 October (Burlington) as its start dates. Airlines do move, and a flight run for one of these airlines by a smaller partner airline can be somewhere else. Your boarding pass or your airline's app is the final word.

Changing between the two halves

A change between the two sides, step by step:

  1. Leave the secure area on the A/B/C side (or the D/E side).
  2. Walk along the main terminal to the other half's security checkpoint. Upgraded Points says there are no trains or shuttles for this, so you walk.
  3. Go through security again. There are four checkpoints: A, B and C for the first half, and D/E for the second.
  4. Walk to your gate.

We don't have an official time for the walk. The airport says checkpoint hours change, and lists these: A and C, 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.; B and D/E, 24 hours.

Landing from another country

Passport control is the desk where an officer from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checks your passport. Upgraded Points says international arrivals are near Concourse E. CBP's duty office at the International Terminal is open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.; check with your airline if you land outside those hours.

If you flew in from a preclearance airport: CBP checks passengers at 16 airports abroad before they board (the list includes Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Dublin and Abu Dhabi). If you flew from one of them, you skip passport control and the second security check when you land, so those steps don't apply to you. Ask your airline whether your bags go through to your next flight.

How long passport control takes. Over the year to 23 September 2026, about 484,000 passengers came through. Half of them waited 10 minutes or less. One in ten waited about 27 minutes or longer. Fewer than 1 in 100 waited over an hour. CBP says its times don't include collecting your bags or finding your way around the airport.

The steps, in order:

  1. Everyone arriving from another country, including US citizens: go through passport control.
  2. Everyone: collect your checked bags and take them through Customs. CBP says you must collect them and bring them through.
  3. Passengers connecting to another flight: check your bags in again with your airline for your next flight. We couldn't find where the drop-off is, so follow the signs for connecting flights or ask staff.
  4. Passengers whose next flight is on the A, B or C side: walk along the main terminal to that side. Upgraded Points says there are no trains or shuttles for this.
  5. Passengers connecting to another flight: go through security again at the checkpoint for your next flight: A or C (open 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.), B (24 hours) or D/E (24 hours).

Going through security again after an international arrival is the normal routine at US airports. A trial scheme lets some passengers skip it. TSA's announcement of it names two flights, both from London, to Atlanta and Dallas. Baltimore is not one of them. On a few routes, eligible connecting passengers don't collect and recheck their bags, but still go through security again. Check with your airline.

If your flights are on separate tickets

If you booked two flights separately, you collect your bags, check in again with the second airline, and go through security again. Add the time to collect your bags, check in again and go through security.

Tips

GateCast grades your connection from A to F on how likely you are to make it. The grade is an estimate. GateCast knows which airlines you're flying but has no gate information, so at an airport with two halves like this one, check your boarding pass and add time for any second security check.

Checked 30 September 2026. Terminals, gates and airlines change, so confirm with the airport and your airline before you travel.

Sources