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I agree with all said above. X2 on never giving out the key to the case. TSA (or the airline personnel) should never touch or otherwise interact with the firearm directly. The airline counter person only looked to see mine was unloaded. I had the slide locked back and a coated cabled padlock threaded thru the action and down thru the magazine shaft.

The only thing I would add is to make sure the case cannot be pried (even slightly) open where you could see or get hold of the weapon.

That was a major concern of the TSA guy who checked my bag. I had it double locked. He pulled pretty hard on the case. He said if it pried up just a little, he would deny the bag. Never asked to see the weapon or even what I was carrying.

I used one of my Kimber cases. Hard plastic, 2 points; padlocks secure the case.
There are better cases than this, but this was what I had.

I have to say, the case my Springfield .45 came in would not pass this test. Only 1 lock point and easy to pry up the corners and see the weapon; even remove it if you were persistent enough.

40 minutes before boarding is the wrong time to find out you can't go with your pistol and you can't leave it at the airport. I'll take luck when it comes my way, but good planning beats great luck all day, every day and twice on Sunday.

HTH
LabRat