Dulles Airport Surprises Passengers with Facial-Recognition Boarding
Dulles Airport Surprises Passengers with
Facial-Recognition Boarding
By Aaron Boyd Senior Editor SEPTEMBER 7, 2018
Airport officials rolled out the system expecting to
increase security and decrease boarding times.
Some international travelers can leave their boarding
passes and passports in their pockets when flying out of Dulles International
Airport thanks to a new facial recognition boarding technology that went into
operation Thursday.
The new veriScan system developed by the Metropolitan
Washington Airports Authority—with guidance from U.S. Customs and Border
Protection—scans the faces of travelers approaching the gate. The system then
compares the photo to a gallery that includes images of that person—either their
passport photo for U.S. citizens or the photo taken of foreign nationals when
they entered the country. The process eliminates the need for an airline
employee to manually check every boarding pass and passport while boarding a
plane.
The scan takes fractions of a second and has shown to be
99 percent accurate during testing, according to CBP Commissioner Kevin
McAleenan, who was joined by MWAA President Jack Potter and airline
representatives for an unveiling event Thursday.
CBP had been keeping the photos for up to 14 days during
testing, and will continue to keep them for up to 12 hours for the short term,
said John Wagner, CBP deputy assistant commissioner for the Office of Field
Operations. When testing is complete, the process will be updated so photos are
deleted immediately after the comparison, he said.
Officials touted the additional security the system
provides—meeting a Congressional mandate to include biometric screenings—as
well as the benefits to travelers, who can expect a much faster boarding
process.
“This spring, Lufthansa announced that it boarded an A380
with over 350 passengers at LAX in less than 20 minutes—less than half of their
normal time—using self-boarding gates linked to CBP’s facial-enabled traveler
verification service,” McAleenan said. “No more fumbling with your boarding
pass while you have two carry-ons, maybe a kid; no more trying to find your QR
code or trying to refresh your screen.”
Passengers preparing to board a Scandinavian Airlines
flight to Copenhagen Thursday were surprised by the new boarding system but
excited at the prospect of faster, more secure boarding.
“It doesn’t matter,” Maryland resident Kim Meekins said
of not being informed ahead of time. “You go to different airports and they do
different things depending on their technology. If it’s another safety measure
to make sure everyone has a safe flight, I’m all for whatever. I didn’t need to
be notified ahead of time.”
Meekins said she is a frequent flyer, so the idea of
cutting boarding time in half was enticing.
“That would be awesome,” she said. “It would be
wonderful.”
For Thea Ottersen of Norway, privacy was not a major
concern, as the general procedure doesn’t differ much from what she has come to
expect from American airport security.
“You know there’s strict security when going to America,
so I’m not really phased about it—more by all the reporters,” she said. “They
take your picture any time you go to America anyway, so I don’t really mind.”
Lithuanian traveler Mantas Klimasausas said he didn’t
have strong feelings about the program either way, adding that he’ll wait to
see how the technology develops over time. However, when told the process could
cut boarding time in half, he quickly became a convert.
“I think it’s a new approach,” he said. And if it
expedites boarding, “That’s even better.”
While only Scandinavian, United Airlines and Air
France/KLM are using the boarding system right now, officials said all
international gates at Dulles and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
will have the technology installed by November.
A similar version of the technology is also in use for
travelers entering the country through Dulles and 13 other international
airports. The system notched an early win in August when just three days into
operation it flagged an alleged imposter trying to enter the country on a false
passport.
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