mules

I read an article in today's paper about the future of automated boarding. Has anyone used them? How did you think it went? How would it handle boarding zones?
http://www.startribune.com/business/160326795.html


..."Delta has tested the device in Atlanta and Las Vegas, with agents on hand to help passengers if necessary. Delta has no plans to expand the test to other airports, said spokesman Morgan Durrant, who declined to discuss customer feedback or other details of the test.

Officials at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas said Delta's test was positive. The airport plans to make 14 gates with self-boarding machines available to interested airlines by the end of summer, but did not disclose which airlines will be using the gates.

Advocates say the devices give agents more time to upgrade passengers, police the size of carry-on bags and sell add-ons, such as seats with more legroom. One agent can watch over more than one self-boarding gate..."

milepig

I've used them boarding LH flights at FRA. Brilliant, you just scan your BP and you're done.

Wiirachay

Used them boarding LH flights at MUC. It's similar to a subway system turnstile. There are two ways to board: through an agent and through the turnstile. Obviously, the line using the turnstile went much faster. Very efficient.

sbm12

I've used them with LH a number of times and they're generally fine.

I've also used self-boarding gates with CO at IAH and it was much more of a mess, as expected. Part of that is getting passengers used to using them and part of it is that passengers in the US are different than in Europe.

fromYYZ_flyer

European: How convenient, scan my boarding pass and get through.
American: I'm sliding my boarding pass through like I do with my Metro card and it ain't workin!! This airline sucks! I want compensation! I'll be suing for wasting 2 minutes of my life. Where's my beer?

milepig

COdbaUA pax: Man this thing is slow, must be because of SHARES. Which, of course, would be true.

emma69

How does an automated boarding gate verify that you are the passenger (ie looking at you in comparison to your ID?) Given that there is so much online check in - it will basically mean that no one will look at your ID when getting on a plane - isn't that going to cause a) security issues and b) problems for the airlines when someone boards a flight without the relevant visa / paperwork etc.?

bankops

Why does it need to? In the US, only the TSA checks you once you're in the sterile area. In Europe they tend to be a little more retentive about it, but even then I have boarded flights in Brussels and in Frankfurt without showing my ID to anybody.

as stated above: "I have boarded flights in Brussels and in Frankfurt without showing my ID to anybody." How many people do you think the name game has actually stopped, that should have been stopped? My guess is zero. If I am a known terrorist, you really think I can't get my hands on a fake id or passport. Please. Only the TSA think that it works so no issue there.

I beep all the time in AMS with a "check docs" message and that isn't at an automated gate. Sometimes happens in MUC at the automated gates, for non-schengen flights. OLCI for many airlines now (for potential visa destinations) require you input information before. LH will even store it in my profile, but as a dual national that doesn't help.

sunnyjl

But the real question is, does it block you if you are not entering with your assigned boarding zone?

sbm12

Nope.
It doesn't.

Potentially an issue if there are doc checks required but otherwise not really.

emma69

I quite like that the airline know who is on board -I suspect there are 'no fly' lists for a reason. If you can get on a plane without anyone checking you, then it rather makes a mockery of it all. Although I already think it is a bit of a blip - people reporting that TSA let them through even tho their ticket was in married name, passport in maiden name etc. without additional proof - are women suddenly not able to blow up planes?

In terms of visas, I just don't think machines are smart enough - if you are flying from X to Z via Y, what does the machine check, and how can it possible know every eventuality (I don't think the technology is there to link automatically to every country's individual visa in and outs (some, for example you need a visa if you are going there, but if you are transiting for less than 24 hours, you don't - if you have an onward ticket with an unrelated airline, how can that machine do the working out?).

My problem is not so much whether the gates are smart or not when it comes to visas, it is more that they will try to man the boarding gates with fewer people, and when problems occur, it is going to take a lot longer to get them resolved, if you only have 1 gate agent and 75 passangers with 'querey visa' messages. Not to mention if there are problems with delays, aircraft changes etc. I don't believe for one moment that any airline using the gates would keep the same staffing levels, despite the spin in the article - they are going to reduce staff, they would be idiotic not to, but it is the customer who will suffer.

sbm12

If the airlines really cared about this they'd have to check IDs at boarding all the time. They gave up on that a long time ago. You might want that to happen, but it doesn't.

You don't get a BP until a human has verified the documents. They do not necessarily have to be verified again at the time of boarding if they've already been verified previously when the BP is issued.

WillTravel

PersonA has boarding pass for AAA-BBB.
PersonB has boarding pass for AAA-CCC.

Without an ID check, is there any reason that PersonB might not use PersonA's boarding pass instead of his own?

In the right circumstances, this could be a roundabout way to transfer a flight to a friend or relative. E.g., if the AAA-CCC flight is a cheap throwaway, PersonB buys that, and instead flies on the AAA-BBB flight which PersonA does not want to use anymore (but is willing and able to go to the airport to do this trick).

sbm12

Nope...and this has been a possibility for a long, long time. The automated self-boarding process doesn't change that one bit.

B747-437B

The UK, among others, mandates this for all UK carriers. ID checks must be conducted at the last point at which passengers on a flight can mix with non-passengers.