United updating weather-delayed travelers with radar maps

United customers delayed by weather are now receiving live radar maps from the carrier.

The Chicago-based airline said Wednesday it had started providing the real-time maps to travelers via links in text messages it sends to communicate flight disruptions. 

They display “weather details across flight paths” and can “help customers understand how inclement weather in one part of the country can impact a flight elsewhere,” United said.

Weather is a common cause of flight delays. In March, the most recent month with available data, it was responsible for 22% of them in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

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United said its rollout of the live radar map links arose out of its ongoing effort “to give travelers as much real-time information as possible about their trip.”

A United Airlines Boeing 777 passenger aircraft at Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The airline is taking advantage of generative artificial intelligence to help its workers craft the radar map messages and additional delay-related communications, according to its press release.

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“We know customers appreciate transparency and by combining innovative technology-enabled tools with people power, we can give more people, even more in-the-moment details about their flight,” United Chief Information Officer Jason Birnbaum said.

United Airlines airplanes proceed to a runway at Newark Liberty International Airport in front of the skyline of midtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building in New York City on January 27, 2024, in Newark, New Jersey. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images / Getty Images)

United’s app features links to weather maps in the flight status tab for all flights, the airline also said.

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The carrier said in April it thought both it and the industry would see a record number of passengers over the course of the summer. More recently, for the June 28 to July 8 holiday travel period alone, United projected its plane will carry a “record” 5 million-plus travelers.

The airline transported 165 million passengers over the course of 2023.