FUTURE OF FLYING

Boarding Passes and Check-In Could Be Scrapped for Air Travel

The new “digital travel credential” will allow passport information stored on devices to be used at the airport.

Lugging around boarding passes and needing to check in for flights will be scrapped as part of the biggest aviation industry shake-up in 50 years, The Times reported. Within the next “two to three years,” passengers will be able to upload their passports on their phones to pass through the airport using only their face for verification. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN body responsible for policy, plans to replace the existing rules for airports and airlines with a new “digital travel credential” that will allow passport information stored on devices to be used for travel. “The last upgrade of great scale was the adoption of e-ticketing in the early 2000s,” Valérie Viale, the director of product management at a travel technology company called Amadeus, told the Times. “The industry has now decided it’s time to upgrade to modern systems that are more like what Amazon would use.” Although the new technology might spark some privacy concerns, Amadeus claims that the system it developed wipes passengers’ details within 15 seconds of each contact with a “touchpoint,” like the pre-security gates.