In December, American Airlines launched a program that uses facial recognition technology for some fliers at Los Angeles International Airport. American Airlines is one of the largest airline companies in the world and its use of biometric to identify travelers could lead to the expansion of the technology. The airline began using facial recognition cameras on a 90-day test basis to identify passengers before they board some international flights leaving from Terminal 4. The program comes three months after the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched a 30-day program to test facial recognition technology for passengers flying out of LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal.
That same month, Delta Air Lines started letting international travelers use facial recognition to check in to a flight, drop off a bag, move through security screening and board a plane at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The biometrics systems are designed to confirm an identity within seconds, which is faster and more accurate than an airline employee or federal screener can do it. The way the biometrics programs work is that passengers don’t have to scan a passport or a driver’s license to confirm their identity. Passengers instead look into a camera that snaps an image of them and compares that to existing photos on file with CBP. We will have to wait and see if other airlines decide to use a biometrics system as well to speed up the travelling process.
