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Pilot Program: Electronic Boarding Passes |
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Dr. Samuel Says -
Arts & Science
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Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
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Thursday, 20 March 2008 |
People complain about waiting in airports, but I kind of like it. It's great for people-watching, if nothing else. I enjoy watching the typical airport scenes: Joyful reunions as family members return from long absences. Comedic exchanges of machismo as businessmen try to impress one another while waiting in the Starbucks line. Live action espionage as Eastern European intelligence agents hand off valuable documents to their handlers. (You need a trained eye to spot those.)
Of course, there are hassles -- chief among them the actual act of
checking in to get your boarding pass. Electronic kiosks have
alleviated the situation to a degree, but a new system is coming online
which promises even more efficiency.
Several airlines have already set up pilot programs (heh) for
electronic boarding passes, which use your cell phone, PDA, or other
mobile electronic device to allow you to check in without any paper
itinerary. Several airlines in the United States currently use this
type of system, including American, Continental, Delta, Northwest,
Southwest and Alaska.
According to a recent report in the New York Times, Continental is
taking this a step further, allowing travelers to pass directly from
the airport entrance, through security, and aboard the plane using only
their cell phone or other mobile device as a pass. The Continental
electronic boarding pass is an image on an encrypted bar code displayed
on the device screen, which can then be scanned by security and airline
personnel.
Other airlines have similar systems in various stages of development,
and all are working with the Transportation Security Administration to
work out the kinks. This idea of mobile check-in opens up a lot of
other possibilities, too. Airlines could communicate directly with
individual ticketed passengers via text or voice messaging before,
during and after the flight. Cool by me.
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