Fed up With Airport Queues? Change is in The Air
- Editor OGN Daily
- 15 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Air travel officials are looking to ditch analog documents and manual check-ins, potentially within the next three years.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, the U.N. body responsible for crafting global airline policy, has plans to switch up the existing systems for airports and airlines with the debut of a “digital travel credential.” So, it looks like we will all have to soon get to grips with a new acronym: DTC. But the good news is that it should streamline and speed up the entire airport process for travellers.
As opposed to manually checking in online or at the airport, getting a boarding pass, and having it scanned at various checkpoints, this system will allow passengers to download a “journey pass” to their devices upon booking that will automatically be updated if changes are made to the flight reservation.
Flyers would also be able to store passport information on their phones and check in via a facial recognition system that’ll alert airlines when passengers arrive and, to address privacy concerns, wipe their details within 15 seconds of each contact with a touchpoint, such as a security gate.
Pilot programs are already underway, says IDtech. In Finland’s early trial, 91 percent of participants reported that the DTC system was easy to use. However, of course, there are still a few glitches to be resolved.
These updates are “the biggest in 50 years,” Valérie Viale, the director of product management at Amadeus, a travel technology company, told The Times. She added: “At the moment, airlines have systems that are very siloed. … In the future, it’ll be far more continuous and the journey pass will be dynamic.”
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