Overview
- United’s pilot, which began Wednesday, puts estimated TSA security wait times in its mobile app for travelers at Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington Dulles.
- The app’s Travel section shows separate estimates for standard screening and TSA PreCheck, with times broken out by zone in United terminals and refreshed throughout the day.
- United generates the estimates from its own data at most hubs, while Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental relies on figures from the Houston Airport System.
- The airline warns the posted times are advisory and may differ from actual waits at the checkpoint.
- The rollout comes during a partial DHS shutdown that has strained TSA staffing, and United bundled the tool with turn‑by‑turn gate directions, automatic rebooking, AirTag location sharing, and real‑time radar weather texts.