Travelers can expect biometric technology to spread at U.S. airports this year. The tech will speed things up at security and customs and immigration checkpoints, as well as during the boarding process, allowing passengers to keep their documents in their pockets.
Passengers are also likely to encounter more e-gates, or physical barriers that use facial recognition to verify a traveler’s identity and authorization to be in the United States, as they board international flights, raising worries among some privacy experts and immigration activists.
Select airports are experimenting with cutting-edge technology that could be rolled out elsewhere in the coming year. Orlando International, for example, is testing a “biometric corridor,” a subtly defined zone in which several mounted cameras can swiftly and simultaneously identify multiple travelers in motion.
More carriers, including Alaska Airlines and American Airlines, are teaming up with the Transportation Security Administration to allow travelers to move through security checkpoints without showing any physical form of identification. This facial-recognition-powered process, called Touchless ID, is available at more than two dozen airports and is expected to be employed at 65 by this spring, according to the T.S.A.
A growing number of U.S. citizens who aren’t part of government Trusted Traveler programs like Global Entry may be able to opt into a quicker immigration check upon re-entering the country through a facial-recognition-verification program called Enhanced Passenger Processing, also expanding to more airports this year.
Government officials say that the biometrics are meant to keep borders safer and also help travelers move through the airport more efficiently and quickly. While biometric identity verification is optional for American citizens, it’s required for foreign visitors.
Industry experts say that biometrics could eventually replace physical documents like identification cards and boarding passes with a simple face scan. This could be a key year in bringing that possibility closer to reality.
Christine Chung is a Times reporter covering airlines and consumer travel.
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