Nov. 21 (UPI) — American Airlines says it is rolling out technology that shames passengers who try to board fights ahead of their designated groups as airports prepare for the busy Thanksgiving travel season.
The technology, to be deployed at 100 airports, seeks to ensure that passengers board only with their respective seating groups to “prevent confusion and conflicts” at airports, the carrier said.
“We’ve heard from our customers that the ability to board with their assigned group is important to them,” Julie Rath, American Airlines’ senior vice president of airport operations, said in a news release issued Wednesday.
Rath said the initial response from customers and airline personnel “has exceeded our expectations” and airline officials are “thrilled to leverage this technology … ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.”
The new software program only will accept boarding passes for groups currently being seated and will sound an alert when someone tries to board out of turn.
The alert tells the passenger and gate agent that boarding pass is for a group that is yet to be seated.
When that happens, an American Airlines gate attendant will “invite” the ticket-holder to rejoin the boarding queue when that person’s respective group is being seated.
The airline also can override the boarding pass alert when someone is traveling with one or more companions who are part of a group being boarded earlier. An attendant can press a button to allow such passengers to board with their companions instead of separating them.
American typically boards passengers in groups based on their respective airline tickets on flights.
In addition to alerting passengers when they can board their flights, the software also shows anticipated arrival times for connecting flights and tells attendants how many people are included in particular boarding groups.
An estimated 5.8 million people will travel by air over the Thanksgiving weekend, which starts on Wednesday and runs through Dec.1, according to AAA.
Another 71.7 million are expected to travel more than 50 miles one way by car and 2.3 million by train, buses, cruise ships and other forms of transportation.
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