Advancing artificial intelligence continues to penetrate a broad swath of sectors in Canada, such as financial technology.
British Columbia is aiming to be a world-class AI hub, with many startups and scale-ups operating and growing in the space.
Air Canada is furthering this mission to have Vancouver at the forefront of AI innovation and usage by deploying one of AI’s front-running applications—facial recognition—at the city’s local airport, YVR.
In a taste of our digital-first future, Air Canada this week announced the launch of digital identification—the first airline in Canada to do so.
The pilot project has Air Canada’s digital identification available for flyers departing from Vancouver International Airport when boarding select flights and for customers entering the Air Canada Café at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Those eligible will receive an invitation to use the digital option and instructions on how to create a “secure digital faceprint” prior to arriving at the airport, according to a statement from the airline.
“Many of our customers already utilize digital credentials to simplify their daily activities such as unlocking mobile phones, entering workplaces, verifying identification during financial transactions, and more,” explains Craig Landry, chief operations officer for Air Canada. “We are very excited to now take a leadership position in Canada and test digital identification using facial recognition technology to validate customer identification quickly, securely and accurately at select airport touch-points.”
According to Landry, participation in digital identification is voluntary.
However, customers choosing facial recognition “will benefit from a simplified and seamless process at the gate and when entering our Maple Leaf Lounges,” he posits.
Air Canada plans to gradually expand digital identification options to more Canadian airports and Maple Leaf Lounges—a move supported by the Canadian government in seeking to improve air transport efficiency through adoption of technology in BC and beyond.
“Our government and Canadian airlines and airports are eager to move forward with innovative solutions and technologies to modernize the traveller journey in airports across the country, which would enable a more seamless and efficient air transportation system,” stated Canada’s Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra.
Alghabra believes Air Canada’s pilot project will “speed up processes at YVR, and other airports where it’s established, while respecting robust privacy measures and security standards.”
“This project has great potential in making gate boarding easier and faster for Canadian passengers, while maintaining strong safety measures,” the government official said.
Customers who do not wish to utilize digital identification “may simply board as they currently do now by presenting their boarding pass and government-issued photo ID for manual ID check and processing,” according to Air Canada.
Likewise, customers may elect to continue scanning their boarding cards manually as they do now to enter the Air Canada Café at Toronto Pearson.
The company says all biometric data is encrypted and stored only on the customer’s mobile phone. Customers must provide additional consent for the data to be used day-of travel “and will only be retained for up to 36 hours subject to Air Canada’s rigorous privacy and security standards.”
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