News

US Air passengers using phones as boarding passes

September 7, 2011

US Airways hopes the mobile boarding pass technology it's now using from NCR Corporation speeds up the check-in process.

"By expanding its self-service offering beyond kiosk and web to include NCR Mobile Pass, US Airways is furthering its commitment to providing a seamless and convenient passenger experience," said Tyler Craig, the newly appointed vice president and general manager of NCR Travel.

How it works

Following check-in, customers receive an email containing a digitally signed and encrypted 2-D bar code compatible with current imager-based airport scanners and boarding gate readers. Customers are able to scan the mobile boarding pass at the kiosk if necessary or bypass check-in lines and head straight to the security checkpoint where the electronic bar code is scanned and validated. The bar code can then be used at the gate for boarding.

US Airways first piloted NCR Mobile Pass at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C. starting in December 2010. It is now available in 14 U.S. airports, including LaGuardia International Airport in New York and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. Further expansion plans are underway.

According to a 2010 survey conducted for NCR by Buzzback Research, 48 percent of U.S. travelers who use their mobile phone for travel information and transactions also use their mobile phone to check-in for flights, and 45 percent access itineraries and reservations. In fact, according to Juniper Research, one in every seven bar-coded boarding passes worldwide will be delivered to passengers' mobile devices within two years.

NCR has issued more than 1.2 million mobile boarding passes since July.

Read more stories about improving the customer experience.