United Airlines – a Corporate Partner of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub – has launched new app features designed to save customers even more time and further improve the overall travel experience. These include:
- ‘Virtual Gate’ gives customers real-time updates about which groups are boarding and a progress bar that shows how many people have boarded, eliminating the need to wait around the gate area.
- United Club ‘closest and best’ feature recommends nearby United Club locations based on proximity to travellers’ gates and available capacity, with capacity insights initially offered at ORD and rolling out to additional airports in 2026.
- An upgraded mobile bag tracking feature includes a package-delivery-style tracker that shows real-time locations throughout the journey.
- Personalised updates include guidance on travelling with strollers or wheelchairs, reminders for required travel documents and biometric boarding options.
- Arrival information features provide travellers with live local weather conditions, estimated local arrival time and instructions on connecting to rideshare services directly from the airport.
United has improved its app with artificial intelligence (AI)-supported navigation tools that will predict what features would most benefit customers during their trip and personalise content to each traveller.
“The more information our customers have, the more confident they feel about their trip,” said David Kinzelman, Chief Customer Officer, United Airlines. “The United app gives travellers personalised, real-time updates during their entire travel journey, helping our customers feel like they have a personal assistant guiding them every step of the way.”
More than 84% of United customers use the app the day they fly, and since beta-testing the latest app enhancements, the airline found customers appreciated the transparent communication, time saved and real-time updates.
