TSA and Continental Airlines Expand Paperless Boarding Pass Program at SJU

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Continental Airlines announced today the expansion of the Paperless Boarding Pass pilot program at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU). The program will allow passengers to receive boarding passes electronically on their cell phones or PDAs, which will then be scanned by Transportation Security Officers at the checkpoint and eliminate the need for a paper boarding pass.

"The deployment of the mobile boarding pass highlights TSA's ongoing commitment to innovative technologies to further enhance security," said Jose Baquero, TSA Federal Security Director for Puerto Rico. "We are pleased to be able to partner with Continental Airlines to provide travelers with this option."

Each paperless boarding pass will display an encrypted two-dimensional bar code along with passenger and flight information that will identify the traveler. TSA Travel Document Checkers will use scanners to validate the authenticity of the paperless boarding pass sent to Continental passengers. The new technology heightens the ability to detect fraudulent boarding passes while improving customer service and reducing paper use.

TSA created the concept of how to scan the paperless boarding passes and Continental Airlines developed an implementation plan that involved encrypting the paperless boarding pass to ensure authenticity. Continental is the first U.S. carrier to test paperless boarding passes and offers the service now at 37 airports.

"We are very pleased that Puerto Rico has been selected as the introductory market of the mobile boarding pass program in the Caribbean and Latin America," said Rigoberto Alvarenga, Senior Director for Continental Airlines in the Caribbean. "Our customers surely appreciate this new technology as an added value when traveling. This program saves time and allows them to take more control of their travel experience."

The TSA Paperless Boarding Pass pilot program is currently operating at approximately 40 airports. The pilot is consistent with the global standard of the International Air Transport Association for bar coding of passenger boarding passes. TSA will continue to expand the use of electronic boarding pass scanners at the pace of participating airlines.

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