At the Los Angeles International Airport, Lufthansa recently started using facial recognition software to try and speed up boarding times for travelers.

For travelers who are boarding, the facial recognition kiosks are going to scan their faces and then crosscheck that information with customs, which will then determine if the traveler is going to get passage onto the plane.

The process of being scanned is only going to take a few seconds and the hope is that it's going to make a dramatic difference in reducing boarding times.

With this new facial recognition kiosk system, the travelers will not be required to present any boarding pass or any passport.

For the airline, this means that the staff can instead put their energy, attention, and focus, on preparing and getting ready for takeoff, rather than focusing on trying to sort through the passengers' documents.

With the facial recognition kiosks at work, Lufthansa believes that they will be able to board roughly 350 passengers onto a plane within 20 minutes or less (see the kiosks above).

Compared to the normal boarding times that don't utilize this biometric technology, the new system is helping to cut the boarding time in half.

Other airlines, such as British Airways, JetBlue, Delta, and others, have also signaled their interest to move in this direction, with using biometric data to try and speed-up boarding times.

Using facial scans, eye scans, or fingerprints to enable passengers to get onto their desired plane.

These sorts of systems have already started being tested at a variety of airports around the US. And in the near future, it's expected that biometric identification systems like this will come to replace the traditional boarding passes that we're familiar with. Pretty soon, perhaps this technology will enable a travel scenario where travelers will not need to show up at the airport with any sort of identification.

Eventually, their face, retinal scan, or fingerprints etc, will be the only identification that they use to get into the airport and board their plane.

For many who need to travel, they unfortunately are going to be left with little options, as biometric identification systems become more prevalent.

Might this trend prompt anyone to perhaps rethink their travel plans and opt instead to either travel by other means or give up on the travel plans entirely? For the millions who have already embraced biometric identification in their daily lives, it's unlikely that this will dampen their travel experience; on the contrary they'll likely see it as a tremendous benefit if it decreases wait times for them.

Previous surveys have found that many travelers are open to using biometric identification instead of having to use a passport and traditional boarding pass.

For the folks who have already had some experience with this technology, it's estimated that roughly 8 out of 10 are in favor of it.

However, as the scale of facial recognition technology continues to grow, so does the concern along with it that this technology could be misused. There is a system being built which looks a lot like a potentially inescapable security net. And this fuels a threat against privacy and has the potential to bring about some very dire consequences.

Pics:
Pixabay
Lufthansa via Forbes
pixabay

Sources:
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/airport-biometrics-trial-face-recognition-klm-brisbane-sita-a7813271.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-airline-biometrics-20170601-story.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/grantmartin/2018/03/25/lufthansa-installs-facial-recognition-stations-in-los-angeles-to-speed-up-airplane-boarding/#fc69fb736c22
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/travel/beating-the-lines-at-airports.html
@doitvoluntarily/building-a-biometric-database-for-an-entire-country
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/06/13/tsa-airlines-test-fingerprints-facial-recognition-identify-travelers/102812802/

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