Delta Airlines is introducing new self-service bad drop machines at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport this summer and one of them will be equipped with a facial recognition system to match the baggage to the passenger’s passport ID. Once the trial has run, the company will collect feedback.
Separately, we heard that Finnair had run a trial of facial recognition at Helsinki Airport. A pilot group (1000) of frequent flyers can upload their pictures before arrival at the airport. When checking in to their flights, the customers use a designated check-in desk where face recognition technology means check-in staff can recognize and greet them by name, without the need to produce any documents.
Analyst Comment
At the recent Passenger Terminal Expo show in Amsterdam, some of the most intriguing demonstrations were of technology that could use a few metres of space to recognise and verify a traveller’s identity, allowing them to walk through a passport control area, rather than wait in line. Of course, as I found on my trip to the US this week, even if you have a fast passport experience, you can still be held up at the end of a trip if your baggage is not delivered quickly! (BR)
Delta is trialling face recognition for check-in
