Air Canada has launched digital identification, becoming the first airline in Canada to be authorized to offer facial recognition technology to passengers for identity verification.
As part of a pilot project currently underway, Air Canada digital identification is now available to passengers departing Vancouver International Airport when entering Winnipeg on select flights and to eligible customers arriving at the Air Canada Café at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Air Canada plans to expand digital identification capabilities to select Canadian airports and the Maple Leaf Lounge in its pilot phase.
“Many of our customers already use digital credentials to simplify their daily tasks, such as unlocking cell phones, accessing workplaces, verifying identity during financial transactions, and more,” said Craig Landry, vice president and chief operating officer of Air Canada. “We are very excited to take the lead in Canada and test digital identification using facial recognition technology to quickly, securely, and accurately confirm customer identification at select airport touch points.”
Participation in digital identification is voluntary. Customers who choose digital identification will benefit from a simplified and seamless process at the gate and upon entering the Maple Leaf Lounge.
Passengers who do not wish to use digital identification may board normally by presenting their boarding pass and government-issued photo ID for manual screening and processing. Customers can also continue to manually scan their boarding cards, as they currently do to enter the Air Canada Cafe at Toronto Pearson.
Digital identification is one of the check-in features of the Air Canada app. Biometric data is encrypted and stored only on the mobile device of the passenger. Customers must provide additional consent to use data on the day of travel, and it is only stored for 36 hours.
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