By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor
Reporting from Future Travel Experience 2011 in Vancouver, B.C.
With self-boarding taking off in Europe and Asia, a time-pressed and tech-savvy traveler could be forgiven for asking, Hey, when are we going to get it here in the U.S. of A.?
Actually, it?s already here, at least in pilot programs that are showing both the concept?s potential ? and the potential for problems.
In Las Vegas, for example, McCarran International Airport and Delta Air Lines have been testing a self-boarding program since mid-April. Geared toward the airline?s elite and other priority fliers, the system allows travelers to scan a barcode on their boarding passes?? paper or PDA-based?? in order to open a gate and board without interacting with an agent.
The program has been a learning curve for all concerned. ?Positioning that barcode is more of a challenge than you?d think it would be,? said Samuel Ingalls, the airport?s assistant director of aviation, information systems. Some people, he added, still don?t realize what that barcode actually is.
Others, it turns out, try to swipe their boarding passes as if they?re scanning groceries at the local supermarket. (The scanner works better if you hold your pass still.) Roll-a-board bags and wheelchairs present their own challenges as does coordinating airport, airline and FAA operations.
As an example, Ingalls notes that FAA regulations require airline personnel to have a conversation with passengers seated in exit rows, a requirement that becomes problematic when people board themselves.
In fact, that issue has forced a temporary halt to the pilot program, although Ingalls expects it to be up and running again in the next few weeks.
?We?re just at the front edge of this,? he said. ?It?s going to take some time to learn the process.?
More from Future Travel Experience 2011
Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.
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