Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News)- A new TikTok trend is adding a challenge to making your flight on time.
The Airport Theory movement is encouraging flyers to arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled departure time instead of the traditional hours in advance approach. The challenge has gone viral with multiple tik tok videos reaching thousands of likes.
A TikTok user named Michael DiCostanzo has tested this theory multiple times with one his videos taking place in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. He successfully made his flight arriving 15 minutes prior to the busiest airport in the world, but he didn’t check a bag which made his run easier.
The top liked TikTok video is by Jenny Kurtz with around 952k likes in an undisclosed airport. She didn’t have the same luck as DiCostanzo, missing her flight and disencouraging people from trying the trend with the caption: “I would not recommend”. Google searches for “I missed my flight what do I do” have increased around 60% over the last month, according to Google Trends.
Amanda Parker, a travel expert for Netflights, told The New York Post that the theory is a gamble since many factors come into play like queue times, gate distances, and how busy the airport is. Most flights end their boarding process about 15 minutes before departure, the same timeframe challengers are giving themselves to make the flight.
Security times at Hancock International Airport in Syracuse are less than 5 minutes most of the time, according to the MyTSA app. The airport does recommend flyers to arrive 2 hours prior to departure.