No more ID? Air Canada starts rolling out facial recognition technology at the gate

Air Canada is poised to roll out facial recognition technology at the gate, making it the first Canadian airline to deploy the software in a bid to streamline the boarding process. Starting Tuesday, customers who board most domestic Air Canada flights at Vancouver International Airport will be able to walk onto the plane without presenting any physical pieces of identification, such as a passport or driver's licence, the country's largest airline said. Participants in the program, which is voluntary, can upload a photo of their face and a scan of their passport to the airline's app. Launched as a pilot project in February 2023, the digital ID option is already available at Air Canada's Maple Leaf lounges in Toronto, Calgary and San Francisco. The airline plans to unveil it at other Canadian airport gates "in the near future." Canadian carriers have been slow to adopt biometric processes, with face-matching technology already deployed by a number of U.S. airlines, overseas airports and government security agencies. Since 2021, some Delta Air Lines customers at the Atlanta and Detroit airports have been able to check their bags, pass through security and board their flight by flashing no more than a smile. The airline expanded the technology to Los Angeles and New York City last year. In 2023, Germany's Frankfurt Airport began to allow all airlines to use "face biometrics" from the check-in desk to the boarding gate — no physical ID involved — after introducing the technology in 2020.<br/>