WestJet, TELUS Partner On Boarding Trial
WestJet and TELUS have teamed up to trial Trusted Boarding, a touchless process that uses safe and secure facial verification technology to verify travellers’ identity prior to boarding a flight. The trial was the first-of-its-kind in Canada and took place at the YYC Calgary International Airport.
Stuart McDonald, executive vice-president and chief information officer, said: “The travel experience is evolving to include many touchless processes and WestJet is innovating to ensure our guests’ travel journey improves to become more seamless and efficient, while prioritizing safety above all.”
McDonald continued: “The Trusted Boarding trial is a union between technology and WestJet that would in the future help our agents and our guests with contactless document validation.”
WestJet’s Trusted Boarding trial demonstrated that the responsible use of biometric boarding technology provides sufficient document validation and prevents non-authorized individuals from boarding an aircraft.
Trial guests boarded WestJet flight 8901 through facial verification with their digital identity wallet on Embross’ Canadian made biometric hardware and boarding application at Gate 88.
The trial marked the first step towards the implementation of the technology as WestJet works with the Canadian government to seek full approval for its use as a safe and secure alternative for future WestJet boarding at Canadian airports.
Ibrahim Gedeon, chief technology officer for TELUS, pointed out that: “As air travel gradually reopens, the passenger experience continues to evolve. Our groundbreaking, built in Canada solution allows travellers to enjoy a secure, touchless identity verification experience, while ensuring they are able to maintain control of their personal data.”
Gedeon added: “This level of control establishes and increases consumer trust by addressing privacy, security, and ethical data risks from the start, while providing transparency to customers.”
Go to www.westjet.com for more.
