Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently announced the deployment of facial recognition exit technology to Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport (LAS) for one daily flight from the United States to Guadalajara, Mexico.
The decision follows the recent deployment of the same technology at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, the Washington Dulles International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
CBP indicated that it plans to expand the facial recognition technology to other airports this summer.
The exit technology combines flight manifests, travel document photos, and a flight-specific photo gallery that each traveler provides to the airline. Prior to passengers boarding, CBP compares the travelers’ live photo against the document photo in the gallery to ensure that each passenger is the true bearer of their travel documents.
Should a U.S. citizen’s passport be identified by the system, the traveler is automatically determined to be out of scope for biometric exit purposes and the picture is discarded in minutes.
“Through our consultations with the airlines and airport stakeholders, and based on the success of several pilots, CBP determined that facial recognition was a viable exit solution,” John Wagner, Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner with CBP’s Office of Field Operations, said. “With the expansion of this technology, we will be looking at different flights, airports, lighting conditions, and internal IT configurations to demonstrate to our stakeholders that this solution is flexible, reliable and easy for travelers to use.”
Two airlines, JetBlue and Delta, recently announced collaborative projects with CBO to integrate facial recognition technology as part of their boarding processes. Currently, Delta is testing eGates at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and Hartsfield-Jackson.
Similarly, JetBlue is testing a facial recognition system that allows passengers to board their plane without scanning a boarding pass.