Over the last year TSA has been testing asking passengers only for their ID and not their boarding pass. They scan the ID and it matches a passenger to a flight. They’ve been working on this for over 7 years.
They’re rolling out the “Credential Authentication Technology” (CAT) tool more broadly now. They check both the authenticity of the document and whether the information matches what they have for the passenger’s ‘Secure Flight’ data in their reservation (name, date of birth, gender). If it isn’t a match, the passenger is sent over to the airline to get things sorted.
However since passengers no longer need a boarding pass when this system is in use, they’re proceeding past the security checkpoint without first checking in for their flight according to an internal American Airlines memo dated June 16th. And that creates a problem because the airline has ticketed passengers, but may give away those passengers’ seats.
[I]f CAT is in use, it is possible that a customer may arrive at the gate for
their flight without being checked in:o If this situation occurs, attempt to check in the customer at the gate
o Agents should be aware of local board customers not yet showing checked in
when held seats are released
Delta started showing boarding passes in their mobile app automatically a couple of years ago, without a passenger checking in. If they’re booked onto a flight, the assumption is they’re going to be there. And if they don’t show, their seat can be given away at the gate to someone standing by.
The check-in process really serves three purposes,
- A last check that the airline has required information to allow a passenger past security and onto the plane
- A convenience to the airline – a check-in cutoff time lets them handle some no shows earlier, so there isn’t as much rush or workload when trying to get a flight off on time
- A communication point with the customer when they can upsell faster boarding, a better seat assignment, or an upgrade.
Someone who is ‘travel ready’ as far as government requirements are concerned (and that’s all that’s checked by TSA at screening) shouldn’t really need to check-in, it’s just a convenience process for the airline and an upsell opportunity. However it’s something that American Airlines still requires. But since TSA no longer needs to check boarding passes when using this new process, American can’t outsource enforcement of their check-in requirement to the government.
