Cell phone may take boarding pass's place
Airline group creates bar code to scan from your mobile, but first hurdle is security
Brad Hem, Houston Chronicle, 10/12/2007 (excerpted)
Cell phones and other mobile devices may become the new airline boarding passes.
A new bar code standard that could pave the way for using cell phones to check in and board flights was announced Thursday by The International Air Transport Association.
Carriers, including Continental Airlines and Southwest Airlines, say they're interested in making the switch, but first the federal agency charged with handling airport security needs to decide whether it can live without paper boarding passes.
Here's how cell-phone check-in would work: Instead of a traveler or airline printing a paper boarding pass and then having the bar codes scanned at airport security and the gate, passengers would register their mobile numbers with the airline and get text messages with boarding pass bar codes. They could then simply hold the screen of their cell phones under the scanner, and off they would go.
"You're eliminating the paper completely," said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the IATA, an international airline trade group. "But you're also eliminating the need for a printer."
That represents a cost savings for airlines and greater convenience for many travelers.
"I would love it," said Houston's Tom Schrier, who flies nearly every week for his job as national sales manager for Kaneka Nutrients. "I can't always print a boarding pass, but I always have my BlackBerry with me."
A few international airlines, including Air Canada, Air Berlin and Spanair, allow check-in with mobile devices, Lott said. It will be a while before U.S. airlines start allowing passengers to use cell phones to check in, he said.
Many airlines already meet bar-code standards, but the obstacle is satisfying security concerns, he added.
"In the U.S., the hurdle would be getting approval from the TSA (Transportation Security Administration)," Lott said. "They have some concerns about this."