United Airlines has launched in its app a new feature that allows travelers with connecting flights at its U.S. hub airports visibility into their departure status and notification if their flight is being held for them, the carrier announced Wednesday.
Such connecting travelers will be able to monitor the status of their flights in the app and will receive word if United's back-end ConnectionSaver technology has identified their flight as one able to be held for departure until they arrive.
Launched in 2019, ConnectionSaver technology used back-end data powered by AI "to quickly identify flights that can be held for connecting customers while still arriving on time to the final destination," United chief customer officer David Kinzelman told reporters Tuesday. The technology in making the determination takes into account the arriving flight's position and the time it will take for passengers to arrive at the gate, he said.
Now, these passengers will receive the ConnectionSaver notification in the app, along with turn-by-turn directions to the connecting gate and walk times, he said.
United earlier this year conducted a beta test of the new app features with more than 350,000 customers, Kinzelman said, 98 percent of whom successfully made their connecting flights.
The moves "are part of our larger customer experience strategy that is based on being radically transparent with our customers and sharing information with them in easy-to-understand ways," Kinzelman said.
Additionally, travelers with what United called "comfortable" connections—those set to arrive at the connection gate before boarding time—now will be offered information including a countdown to boarding, United airport club locations and directions.
Those passengers who miss connections will be offered the ability to rebook or join standby lists through the app, Kinzelman said.
The updates for now apply only to flights connecting through United's seven U.S. hub airports: Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Houston Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco and Washington Dulles. The new features apply only to connecting itineraries in which United operates both legs; it will not apply to flights operated by the carrier's partners.
The service is available in English and Spanish, and Kinzelman said the carrier is working to introduce more languages in the future. Additionally, the airline is working to enable location services, so that passengers can share their location in the airport to receive real-time directions to the connection gate, he said.