WASHINGTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta (NYSE: DAL)
customers now can use fingerprints instead of their boarding pass
to board any Delta aircraft at Reagan Washington National Airport
(DCA).
Delta's biometric boarding pass experience that launched in May
at the DCA Delta Sky Club is now integrated into the boarding
process to allow eligible Delta SkyMiles Members who are enrolled
in CLEAR to forego a paper or mobile boarding pass in favor of
using fingerprints 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.
"The truly exciting piece of what Delta is doing, is how
scalable this experience is in part due to our partnership with
CLEAR," said Gil West, Delta's
Senior Executive Vice President & COO. "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."
Delta is partnering with CLEAR to power the back end of its
pioneering biometric boarding pass experience. 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 continued. "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."
Over the past year, Delta has led the industry on a number of
innovative customer solutions like biometric-based self-service bag
drop, RFID baggage handling, real-time bag tracking via the Fly
Delta mobile app, more efficient and high tech automated screening
lanes and a groundbreaking app that helps Delta pilots avoid
turbulence for a more comfortable flight. Delta's partnership with
CLEAR already gives exclusive rates to U.S.-based SkyMiles Members
for a faster way through security lines at more than 20 airports
nationwide, including DCA.
Findings from the DCA test will be analyzed to determine next
steps for improving the process and broader implementation.
How it works
During the pilot, Delta customers with a
SkyMiles number and who are also enrolled in CLEAR are eligible for
the biometric boarding pass experience. CLEAR will capture and use
both biometric and SkyMiles information to identify customers at
bag drop, Delta Sky Club entry and boarding.
Today: Eligible Members can now use their fingerprints to enter
Delta Sky Club and board the aircraft at DCA. The biometric
boarding pass experience remains optional.
Coming Soon: Delta plans to extend passenger biometrics as ID
and boarding pass to Delta's DCA ticket counter work
stations for bag drops.
About Delta
Delta Air Lines serves more than 180
million customers each year. In 2017, Delta was named to Fortune's
top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most
admired airline for the sixth time in seven years. Additionally,
Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News Annual Airline
survey for an unprecedented six consecutive years. With an
industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection
carriers offer service to 334 destinations in 62 countries on six
continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 80,000
employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800
aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global
alliance and participates in the industry's leading
transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia
as well as a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its
worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than
15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including
Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St.
Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de
Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has
invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products
and services, and technology to enhance the customer experience in
the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on
the Delta News Hub, as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub,
Google.com/+Delta, and Facebook.com/delta.
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SOURCE Delta Air Lines