Knobbgb

Hmmm... reduced time to identify passengers at security to just a few seconds? Well, all that you do now is scan your boarding card in an automatic reader - there's no ID check. It sounds to me like this will actually take longer and is an excuse to make the 'sheep' feel safer with more plastic-security. And how can it possibly make check-in quicker? I can't actually see it being implemented at boarding - which is where the REAL bottleneck is. Sometimes I think we're guilty of technology for the sake of it. Waving a small piece of card or the screen of your smartphone under a reader works just fine. Of course, those who favour conspiricies might point out that this allows for all sorts of closer tracking, monitoring or controlling of people's movements. I'm sure there are politicians salivating at the thought of being able to photograph every single airline passenger. Just saying...

The only other practical use of such a system I'm aware of is in T5 at Heathrow where they use facial recognition (but not biometric afaik) to allow international and domestic passengers to mix in the same terminal area. Now if they could use this to do away with the whole A/B Gates mess, that WOULD be an advantage that would save a lot of time, space and extra staff!

I've mixed feelings about the fact that they will 'bribe' people to use this system by offering fast track. It's a nice bonus for those who don't already use it (initially at least), but it will make it slower for those of us who have earned the right through status.