United adds TSA wait times to its mobile app

If you’re flying United Airlines, you’ll now have a better idea of when you need to get to the airport to make your flight. Yesterday the airline announced several updates to its iOS and Android mobile apps including estimated security wait times at all of United’s US hub airports as a result of the ongoing partial government shutdown that left TSA agents unpaid and checkpoints understaffed.

That includes airports in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York / Newark, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, and both standard security and TSA PreCheck lineups.

Other features that will benefit flyers on travel day include personalized turn-by-turn walking directions to gates with an estimate of how long it will take to get there, a “heads up” if United can hold a flight to accommodate those with tight connections, and texts with radar maps showing how weather could affect travels.

The mobile also includes self-service tools for rebooking flights, requesting meal and hotel vouchers, and a “package-delivery-style bag tracker.” As part of yesterday’s news, United Airlines also announced “bag tracking enhancements” allowing passengers to “seamlessly share” the location of luggage they’re keeping tabs on with an Apple AirTag tracker. United Airlines first added support for Apple’s Share Item Location in December 2024, shortly after Apple first announced the feature.