Delta says Atlanta airport will feature USA’s ‘first biometric terminal’

Delta Air Lines is set to introduce what it’s calling the “first biometric terminal in the U.S.”

The carrier says it’s equipping the Atlanta airport’s international terminal (Terminal F) with face-scanning technology that will allow international passengers to use facial recognition technology “from curb to gate.” It also will be available to passengers flying nonstop from Atlanta on Delta partner airlines Aeromexico, Air France-KLM or Virgin Atlantic.

Delta says the biometric updates will fully roll out to the terminal “later this year,” though it adds the process will be “optional.”

“If customers do not want to participate, they just proceed normally, as they’ve always done, through the airport,” Delta says in a statement.

Upon rollout, the biometric option will be available only for passengers checking in at Atlanta for nonstop flights to an international destination.

For those who want to use the option, Delta touted it as a glimpse of the future.

“Launching the first biometric terminal in the U.S. at the world’s busiest airport means we’re bringing the future of flying to customers traveling around the globe,” Gil West, Delta’s COO, says in a statement. “Customers have an expectation that experiences along their journey are easy and happen seamlessly – that’s what we’re aiming for by launching this technology across airport touch points.”

How will it work?

Delta says customers must enter their passport information during online check-in (or at the airport, after a passport scan and verification.). Next, passengers can click “look” when they check-in at one of Delta’s automated kiosks. Delta says customers have the same options as they “approach the camera at the counter in the lobby, the TSA checkpoint or when boarding at the gate.”

“The expansion of biometrics and facial recognition throughout the airport environment represents the next generation of security identification technology,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske adds in Delta’s statement. “TSA is committed to working with great partners like Delta, ATL and CBP on developing and deploying new capabilities like these.”

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