Air Canada is testing a new boarding option using facial recognition in San Francisco and plans to expand it to additional airports in the United States and Canada, the carrier announced.
The option lets passengers departing San Francisco International Airport have their photo taken at the gate, which is compared with their photo already on file with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection from their passport or visa. Once validated, which takes a matter of seconds, passengers can board. Biometric boarding is not a requirement; passengers still can board with a manual check of their identification and boarding documents if they prefer.
Air Canada expects to make the option available at other U.S. airports in the "near future" and also is looking into how it can add them in Canadian airports, according to the carrier.