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LEARN MOREPosted: 2:51 p.m. EDT May 31, 2017
Forget the boarding pass. A selfie is all you'll need to board an airplane in the future.
JetBlue will be the first airline to team up with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to test biometric facial recognition technology at its gates.
Here's how it will work: Passengers will be photographed prior to boarding. Those photos will be run against the CBP's database of passport, visa and immigration photos. Once the system confirms a passenger's identity, he or she can board the plane.
The trial will start in June with JetBlue flights from Boston to Aruba.
For now, passengers will have to opt-in to use the technology. They'll also still need a copy of their boarding pass to get through the airport's security line.
But JetBlue's executive vice president of customer service, Joanna Geraghty, said in a press release, "We hope to learn how we can further reduce friction points in the airport experience, with the boarding process being one of the hardest to solve."
CBP agents have already been using the same technology to verify the identifies of passengers entering the U.S.
The agency deletes the passengers' pictures after the verification process, unless it "determines that further administrative or enforcement actions are necessary."
British Airways also is already using this kind of facial recognition technology for boarding in London's Heathrow Airport.
