American Airlines is rolling out its boarding technology platform to more than 100 airports in the United States in time for Thanksgiving, the carrier announced Wednesday. The platform helps to ensure passengers board with their assigned group.
If a customer tries to board earlier than their assigned group, the new software will not accept the boarding pass and instead will make “an audible sound to alert the gate agent and customer that the group has not yet been called,” and the customer will be asked to rejoin the line when their boarding group is called. For those traveling with a companion in an earlier boarding group, the agent can override the alert, according to American.
The carrier during the past month has tested the new technology at Albuquerque International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Tucson International Airport.
“We’ve heard from our customers that the ability to board with their assigned group is important to them because it’s a benefit associated with their AAdvantage status or fare purchase,” American SVP of airport operations Julie Rath said in a statement. “The initial positive response from our customers and team members has exceeded our expectations.”
In addition to preserving boarding priority, the new platform also helps agents pace the boarding process with insight into the number of customers in each boarding group, displays anticipated arrival time for incoming flight connections so staff are aware of potential misconnections, and eliminates the need for staff to use multiple applications during boarding by replacing them with a single display, according to the carrier.
American in the coming months said it will further expand the technology to hubs and other airports.
