TPA Tampa, FL

Connecting at Tampa: four gate buildings, four security checkpoints

Last checked 30 September 2026

A connection is when your trip has two flights and you change planes in between. At Tampa, each of the four gate buildings (Airsides A, C, E and F) has its own security checkpoint. Changing from one to another means a monorail ride of under 2 minutes back to the Main Terminal, a ride to the other gate building, and security 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 gate building is my airline in?

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

Two airlines in different gate buildings, for example Southwest (Airside C) and Delta (Airside E), always mean a security check for the second flight. Airlines do move, and a flight run for one of these airlines by a smaller partner airline may be somewhere else. Your boarding pass or your airline's app is the final word.

Changing from one gate building to another

The airport's own advice is that "Each airside has its own security checkpoint" and that you must "return to the main terminal and go through security again at your desired airside".

  1. Ride the monorail shuttle back to the Main Terminal. It takes less than 2 minutes and runs frequently.
  2. Walk to the shuttle for your next gate building.
  3. Ride it to the other gate building. It takes less than 2 minutes.
  4. Go through the security checkpoint there.

Each ride takes under 2 minutes. The airport says to allow about 20 minutes in quiet periods and about 45 at busy ones. The busiest times are 6 to 9 a.m., and the days before and after holidays.

Early morning and late night

The checkpoints open at different times: Airside A at 3:45 a.m., Airsides C and E at 3:30 a.m., and Airside F at 4:00 a.m. (the airport's e-gates open 15 minutes earlier). The airport doesn't publish when they close. If you land in the small hours and have to change gate buildings, you may have to wait for a checkpoint to open.

Landing from another country

Passport control is the desk where an officer from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checks your passport. At Tampa it is in Airside F, where the airport has two lanes just for US passport holders.

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 659,000 passengers came through. Half of them waited 10 minutes or less. One in ten waited about 28 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 and Customs in Airside F.
  2. Everyone: ride the shuttle to the Main Terminal. Baggage carts are free so you can take your luggage on the shuttle. The airport says you may not reach the Main Terminal for an hour or longer after landing.
  3. Everyone: collect your checked bags at baggage claim on Level 1 of the Main Terminal. Red is the north side and Blue the south side; the signs show which side your airline is on.
  4. 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.
  5. Passengers connecting to another flight: take the monorail shuttle (under 2 minutes) to the gate building for your next flight.
  6. Passengers connecting to another flight: go through security at that gate building.

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. Tampa 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. The Main Terminal has two sides, Red and Blue, where you check in and collect bags, and they depend on the airline. For example, Southwest, Alaska and Frontier are on Red; American, Delta and United are on Blue. Look up both airlines on the airport's airline page before you travel. 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 several gate buildings 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.

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