As e-ticketing becomes the new normal in the airline industry, the next innovation for paperless ticketing is in air travelers’ very own hands.
Alaska Airlines wants to be first US carrier to use biometric fingerprints to check in for flights and pay for inflight purchases.
The airline has a long track record in innovation – it began online ticketing in the 1990s, launched wireless check-in in 2001 and is testing do-it-yourself bag tagging at home for some travelers.
Alaska has been trialing a biometric fingerprint access system at its airport lounges and plans to exend it to other functions such as boarding and checking in bags.
"We are looking at ways to make Alaska the easiest airline to fly and we’re looking for ways to get rid of waiting. I don’t think there’s a lot of value in waiting," said Sandy Stelling, Alaska’s managing director for customer research and development.
"We’re already in discussions of how we extend this, and where we go next: Is it the boarding door? Is it the bag drop?" Stelling said.
"Obviously we have to line up a number of partnerships to make that happen as the customer response has been that strong. We don’t want to take our foot off the gas."
For it to be adopted for boarding aircraft and passing security screening, it will first require approval from the Transportation Security Administration.
According to the TSA website, it would be ‘subject to a federal approval process that includes extensive testing in a closed, off-airport environment, a privacy impact assessment and a proposal published in the Federal Register.’
