American Airlines adding new technology that calls out boarding line rule-breakers

FORT WORTH, Texas (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — American Airlines will implement a new policy that calls out passengers who try to break the boarding line.

Just ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel season the airline is expanding technology to more that 100 airports across the United States. American officials say the platform ensures customers receive the benefit of boarding in their assigned group and airline staff with more visibility into the process.

“We’ve heard from our customers that the ability to board with their assigned group is important to them because it’s a benefit associated with their AAdvantage status or fare purchase,” said Julie Rath, an American senior vice president. “The initial positive response from customers and team members has exceeded our expectations, so we are thrilled to leverage this technology to deliver for them ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.”

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If a customer boards before their assigned group is called, the new software will not accept the boarding pass and instead makes an audible sound to alert the gate agent and customer that the group has not yet been called. In these instances, the American employee will “invite” the passenger to rejoin the line when their boarding group is called.

For those traveling with a companion in an earlier boarding group, the agent can override the alert and accept the pass to continue boarding.

The airline says it has successfully trialed the technology over the last month at Albuquerque International, Ronald Reagan Washington National and Tucson International airports.

American will continue to refine the technology through the rollout to more than 100 “spoke” airports – as opposed to hubs — including Austin and Atlanta over this holiday period. In the coming months, the airline will further expand the technology to hubs like Charlotte Douglas.

Designed from team member feedback, the new platform also:

• Provides team members with more insight into the number of customers in each boarding group

• Displays anticipated arrival time for incoming flight connections

• Eliminates the need for team members to use multiple applications during boarding by replacing them with one easy-to-use display.

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