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Nov 26, 2008 5:41 pm US/Eastern
Boarding Goes Mobile At Several U.S. Airports
Thousands of frequent fliers are ditching paper boarding passes and using their blackberrys and cell phones to breeze through airport security.
"If it is an opportunity to move faster through the line and not have your eyeballs scanned, I am all for it," said Kristen Schonwald, who is flying 'paperless' from Newark to St. Lous.
Instead of a printed boarding pass, Schonwald held up her blackberry, showed her picture ID and cleared security.
Several airlines now offer electronic boarding passes to passengers who check in on-line.
"It is really designed for the customer who is not yet at the airport and wants to save that time, avoid the ticket counter, and just get straight to the gate," explained Jared Miller of Continental Airlines.
How does it work? The airline sends the boarding pass directly to the passengers PDA or cell phone and on it, there is a barcode encrypted with the traveler's name and flight information. Security officers use a special hand-held scanner to read the electronic boarding pass.
"It is absolutely more secure than a paper boarding pass because it allows us to authenticate the boarding pass to insure that it is genuine," said Russell McCaffery, TSA Deputy Federal Security Director.
The TSA gave the program the green-light last year and, since then, more and more airlines, airports and customers are getting on board.
The paperless pass is particularly handy for frequent flyers and last minute travelers who can book on the move, and wave their way through to the plane.
Right now, there are eleven airports using this paperless boarding technology.
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
- Logan International Airport (BOS)
- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)
- San Antonio International Airport (SAT)
- Indianapolis International Airport (IND)
- LaGuardia Airport in New York(LGA)
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
- Cleveland Hopkins Airport (CLE)
- Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
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