Delta testing Biometric Boarding Passes at Reagan Washington National Airport

Customers of Delta Air Lines now can use a fingerprint instead of their boarding pass to board any Delta aircraft at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)

Customers of Delta Air Lines now can use a fingerprint instead of their boarding pass to board any Delta aircraft at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

Delta’s biometric boarding pass allows eligible Delta SkyMiles Members who are enrolled in CLEAR to forego a paper or mobile boarding pass in favour of using a fingerprint as proof of identity to board their plane.

The final phase of Delta’s DCA biometric boarding pass test, coming this summer, will allow members to also use their fingerprints to check a bag.

Gil West, Delta’s Senior Executive Vice President & COO, said, “Once we complete testing, customers throughout our domestic network could start seeing this capability in a matter of months – not years. Delta really is delivering the future now.”

The DCA pilot is testing how Delta and CLEAR’s systems work together while laying the foundation for Delta to deliver a more convenient customer experience broadly in the future. Being part of the initial tests means that eligible customers will be able to traverse DCA as they do today and simply use their fingerprint instead of pulling out their boarding pass. Participating in the test is optional.

“Customer and employee feedback has been extremely encouraging throughout our Delta Sky Club test and we expect that enthusiasm to continue with the boarding experience,” West added. “It’s a win-win program. Biometric verification has a higher level of accuracy than paper boarding passes and gives agents more time to assist customers with seat changes and other skilled tasks instead of having to scan individual tickets – and customers have less to keep track of as they travel through the airport.”