Air France Trials Facial Recognition at New York and Houston Airports

Air France-KLM will be introducing biometric boarding through a trial program at two major US airports, with plans to expand the technology to all US airports by 2020. The program uses facial recognition to identify passengers before they step onto the plane, allowing for a much faster boarding process.

“We are excited to embrace an innovation that has the potential to make the travel experience less stressful and more secure for our passengers,” said Stephane Ormand, the VP and General Manger for Air France USA.

Biometric boarding is already available to Air France passengers in a number of US transportation hubs, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, and Seattle. Facial recognition will be used to process upwards of 2,000 Air France travelers every day during the trial period.

Of course, Air France is not the only air travel organization exploring the potential of biometric technology. NEC’s facial recognition tech will soon be coming to more Japanese airports following a successful deployment at Narita International Airport, while the CLEAR program has been introduced at multiple airports in the US in the past few months, including Boston Logan International and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International.

Sources: Engadget, Airport Technology  

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July 12, 2019 – by Eric Weiss