Air Canada testing ‘voluntary’ facial recognition boarding at Pearson, Vancouver airports

No identification? No boarding pass?

No problem.

Air Canada says it has become the first airline in this country to test facial recognition technology that would allow a person to board a flight without those key documents, instead using the Air Canada app to create a ‘faceprint’ that would verify their identity.

The pilot project is currently underway at Vancouver International Airport on select flights to Winnipeg and at the Air Canada Café at Pearson Airport in Toronto.

Air Canada says it has plans to expand the testing to “select Canadian airports and Maple Leaf Lounges” in the future.

The term “facial recognition” often sparks privacy concerns, but Air Canada says the technology is strictly on a voluntary basis, promising “a simplified and seamless process at the gate” for those who wish to participate.

“Many of our customers already utilize digital credentials to simplify their daily activities such as unlocking mobile phones, entering workplaces, verifying identification during financial transactions and more,” said Craig Landry, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at Air Canada.

“We are very excited to now take a leadership position in Canada and test digital identification using facial recognition technology to validate customer identification quickly, securely and accurately at select airport touchpoints.”

“Participation in digital identification is voluntary,” he stressed.

Air Canada says customers who don’t want to use facial recognition “may simply board as they currently do now by presenting their boarding pass and government-issued photo ID for manual ID check and processing.”

The federal government, which has faced pressure to alleviate wait times at Canada’s often-beleaguered airports, applauded the technology.

“Our government and Canadian airlines and airports are eager to move forward with innovative solutions and technologies to modernize the traveler journey in airports across the country, which would enable a more seamless and efficient air transportation system,” Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, said in a release.

Alghabra said facial recognition would speed up processes “while respecting robust privacy measures and security standards.”

“This project has great potential in making gate boarding easier and faster for Canadian passengers, while maintaining strong safety measures.”

Air Canada released a video showing how the technology works.

“Digital identification is a single enrollment feature on the Air Canada app. Biometric data is encrypted and stored only on the customer’s mobile phone,” Air Canada said.

“Customers must provide additional consent for the data to be used day-of travel and will only be retained for up to 36 hours subject to Air Canada’s rigorous privacy and security standards.”