User-controlled ID verification comes to Alaska Air via Airside

Alaska Airlines has gone live with a remote digital ID service that enables passengers to verify their passports before they arrive at an airport.

Financial details about adding the new service, called Mobile Verify, have not been released. It is an item in a $2.5 billion, three-year project for Alaska Air designed to update its airport experience for flyers, according to the Seattle Times.

Mobile Verify doesn’t make for a hurdle-free experience at airports, but Airside is relieving some passengers and Alaska Air resources of one more security stop per visit. The user-controlled digital ID service is open to international travelers carrying U.S. or Canadian passport.

The airline’s new free service is delivered by Onfido–acquisition Airside via a customer-facing mobile wallet. American Airlines uses the Airside app as well for its mobile ID.

Passengers participating in Mobile Verify keep their personal data on their mobile device, sharing none of it with the airline, according to Airside. The app does the handshake, not a passenger’s phone. Airside has Kantara certification for advanced data protection.

Enrolment, which does not have to be repeated until a passport is replaced, involves a selfie for biometric matching, a passport ID-page scan and a wireless scan of the document’s chip.

Verification happens before each flight when passengers consent to a digital ID transaction.

Article Topics

airport biometrics  |  Airside Mobile  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  face biometrics  |  mobile app  |  passenger processing