US airline operator Delta has expanded its use of biometric border control gates by conducting trials in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, USA, and John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York.
Developed in partnership with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the trial captures departing passengers’ biometrics at the moment when they scan their boarding pass. Upon successful screening, the border control gates open for travelers to pass into the boarding area.
Trials are already underway at JFK and will begin in Atlanta Airport later this summer. The gates are being supplied and developed by security screening technology specialist Vision-Box and IT developer NEC Corporation of America.
John Wagner, deputy executive assistant commissioner, office of field operations, CBP, said, “CBP has been working with our stakeholders to build a simplified, but secure travel process that not only meets the biometric exit mandate, but also aligns with CBP’s and the travel industry’s modernization efforts. We are happy to be working with partners, like Delta, to expand the use of facial biometric technology to create an innovative, more efficient travel experience for passengers.”
Gil West, chief operating officer, Delta, said, “We are always willing to partner with the CBP as it continues testing new technologies to improve its processes. Its spirit of innovation aligns with Delta’s as we continue pioneering our own biometric customer experience solutions to enhance the airport travel experience for customers while giving employees the ability to focus on higher-touch customer needs.”
Miguel Leitmann, CEO, Vision-Box, said, “Vision-Box is excited to partner with Delta to provide an innovative self-boarding e-gate system that combines airline boarding and biometric exit capture capabilities in a single process. Passenger experience, high biometric accuracy and personal data protection are among the key metrics the pilot is addressing in order to establish a foundation to scale up to other airports.”