According to reports from the Times and the Guardian, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations agency responsible for shaping airline policies, plans to overhaul the current boarding process by introducing a “digital travel certificate.”
This change will eliminate the need for traditional boarding passes and check-in fees. Passengers will not have the usual check-in process, but upload their passports to their phones and pass through the airport seamlessly.
The Journey Pass will also be downloaded to the passenger’s device and any changes to the booking will be updated continuously. Through facial recognition, passengers of the airline will be notified of arrival.
Depending on the type of luggage, passengers will either be safe in the case of a bag drip (used to check the luggage) or a security door (used to carry-on luggage).
Valerie Viale, director of product management at Amadeus, the world’s largest travel technology company, discussed these major changes with Times: “Many airline systems have not changed for more than 50 years; the last major upgrade was the adoption of E-tickets in the early 2000s.”
These plans will require extensive upgrades to the airport infrastructure, including the installation of facial recognition technology and a system that can read passports from mobile devices.
Such infrastructure upgrades are challenging for airports due to the global nature of the industry and the complexity of interconnected systems such as connecting flights, delays and disruptions.
Under the current system, the passenger books the flight and then opens the check-in 24 or 48 hours before departure. Then enter the passport details and assign seats. The new Journey Pass will allow passengers to download all relevant booking details, including other services such as car rentals. To resolve privacy issues, the system will automatically delete passenger details within 15 seconds of contact with a contact point (such as a security door).
Additionally, passengers will receive pre-order notifications about delays in connection flights and send push notifications to update new flight details.
In the future, passengers will have the option to share their location with the airline, allowing the airline to send instructions to the departure door or provide information about lounge access options. The technology will also allow passengers to purchase cabin upgrades once they get on board. Airline partners, including car rental companies, will be informed of the delays for passengers. Integration of luggage tracking can also be expected.