" and then backtrack to put the phone in a bin for X-ray screening."

Seems like this will cause MORE delays as passengers have to "backtrack" to have their phone pass thru the xray machine.

And I don't know about you, but I'm a little leery of having my shoes in one bin, my carry on bag/backpack in a 2nd, then my expensive iphone in a 3rd while I go thru a scanner. I'm separated from my stuff, who knows what can happen until I reach it on the other side.
I'd rather keep my possessions together as much as possible, my iphone in my jacket or bag.

Once again the TSA is making more hassles for travelers. I don't think paperless boarding passes are going to save any time at all. The whole scanning process is inefficient and doesn't really stop anyone intent on getting on board with a weapon or other dangerous item. Terrorists know they can get around it. The scanning /screening is only there to make people think the TSA is doing something about security. How many stories have we heard of undercover testers making it thru with knives & other weapons ?

And what do you do if your battery dies and you dont have a paper copy ? You're SOL.

Posted By Mike F. on April 6, 2009, 6:33 AM

It would make more sense for all airports to have a checkpoint ahead of the scanning area where everyone has to show their boarding pass and ID before they can even get to the screening area - this would allow us to tuck the electronics or paper pass into our carry-ons and reduce the probability of equipment losses.

At the screening area, I already have to have multiple bins (carry-on, shoes/jacket, laptop) and usually they've already started through the scanner before I get to the X-ray/sniffer. If I have to backtrack, then my cell will be several bins behind my other stuff since the people in line behind me will already have their stuff on the belt and probably started through as well.

Posted By Evelyn on April 6, 2009, 11:50 AM

I currently am employed by the TSA. Travelers do not need to place shoes, carry-on luggage or purses in a bin, these items may be placed directly on the conveyor belt.

Posted By Bob on April 7, 2009, 9:22 AM

I don't like the fact that you have to walk through bare-footed. Does anyone realize how many germs and fungus there are on that floor? Then you have to leave all your personal belongings for anyone to pick up. They just hand it to whoever has there hand out!

Posted By Peggy Hale on April 7, 2009, 1:34 PM

What about the elderly, who are not technology wise? Or people that still can't afford iPhones and fancy gadgets?

Posted By Oakland Gardens on April 7, 2009, 1:35 PM

The second check of the boarding pass on the other side of the metal detector seems duplicative. If TSA would remove that step, the cell phone boarding pass could be shown at the first checkpoint and then the phone could be passed through the x-ray without "backtracking".

Posted By R Shaw on April 8, 2009, 9:00 AM

Here is the best way. Paper boarding passes produced at a pre-load location or at home.

The passenger would then stand on a belt and the minimum hand carried stuff to be x-rayed would be placed on a belt that is digitally synced with the belt that the passenger is standing on. This way if a passenger has to back up the stuff and the person do so together without turning around.

This reduces passenger stress about their expensive stuff being pushed off the end an x-ray belt on to the floor. (not kidding it happend to my Mac Book crash lost everything!)

Beefits: Greater security because the passenger always are able to stand next to their bags all the way to the end of the screening process.

Another beef if you are going to make us take off our shoes at least give us someplace to sit to put them back on and a foot message at the same time.

TSA and DHS need to get their databases better sync'd with the airlines boarding pass system at the gate. A consortium like the Plus system which runs the ATM networks for the banks would work as a model and the same software could probably run it with minor modification.

The integrator operator would be paid by a small fee representing the number of minutes saved by travelers. Travelers are thus available to buy stuff inside the airport duty free or by the airport/city taxes. Cities with the fastest airports would get the most business travelers and thus more conventions, room nights and successful new economy startups etc. etc.

A margin-profitable entity can follow the ATM transaction models to streamline the data side. The USG role would be to govern in the privacy and reliability and integrity areas with laws and policies. Let the private businesses contract to run the database side of the business.

Posted By philip Skoog on April 8, 2009, 10:31 AM

What happens if you should lose your phone before the outgoing flight or before the flight home? How do you prove you have a reservation?

Posted By Jewel on August 31, 2009, 2:23 PM

I used the Electronic Boarding Pass on a recent trip from LGA to MSP, and back. Worked fine. In each case (direct flight, so both times) I was able to carry my Blackberry through the screener. Outbound the guard asked to see the pass, inbound they did not - that was a really slow time in the scanning queue, so I think they just saw me check in at the desk with my phone and didn't bother asking me to show it again.

Posted By Dave Sedgwick on September 3, 2009, 1:10 PM

Checking the boarding pass at the screening point is completely redundant - all the screening people should be doing is checking my person for prohibited items and my bag and shoes for same. That way, the phone with the boarding pass can go through the Xray machine. Keep your government issued ID with you so that you can prove which is your phone should anything go wrong. In an area where everybody can see everybody else coming and going, what's the point of double checking the boarding pass? I'd rather see TSA employees stick to their agency's protocols - no running back into a secure area when someone going off a shift forgets something and decides to jump the barrier to retrieve it - who is checking where that person has just been? That's right, nobody.

Posted By Vincent Vanderbent on September 14, 2009, 1:28 PM

For all those who are worried about your battery dying, losing your phone before the flight, etc... You can still get a paper boarding pass even if you originally selected a mobile boarding pass. Simply go to the ticket counter or self service machine and reprint (or reprint from home if you are still there). That doesn't help you if you have already been waiting in the security line when your phone dies though.

I've found the boarding pass works great at the security line, but only about 25-50% of the time at the gate. I fly American out of LAX every week.

Posted By Jeff on September 14, 2009, 7:18 PM

Does showing a barcode on your cell phone's screen actually work reliably? I was just reading about someone trying to display barcodes on cell phones as a replacement for paper coupons at a grocery store. They found that is is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to reliably read a barcode off of a cell phone's LCD screen. If Delta found a solution, I hope they share it.

Posted By Walt on September 15, 2009, 8:42 AM

Battery drain on the mobile is a valid concern. Of course, you should know better and make sure the thing is fully charged ahead of time. However that doesn't take into account rapid drain on batteries and such because the owner keeps the thing glued to his/her ear. Nevermind.

No, a more EFFECTIVE solution is this method (parts of which are already used in other parts of the world):

Inside the terminal, you proceed along a queue line to the counter as usual. Here you check in and surrender any checked bags you may have. The bags get the standard destination tag that also has a "match-me" barcode on it. The bags go on a belt, through a scanner and are sealed with a set of tamper-proof straps on which the same barcode is printed before being sent to the staging area (the system is identical to how UPS/FedEx/USPS scan parcels, but with the scan-and-strap step added in). Once the bag is strapped, the check-in agent gets an electronic all-clear and you can move on.

You get a magnetically encoded gate pass that has the same "match-me" identifier associated to it, as well as boarding pass (if it wasn't printed beforehand); no electronic nothing. Now it is off to the Security checkpoint and, because it is right after the check-in point, congestion is removed as the flow through matches that of the check-in area.

Meanwhile, the high-res bag scan images are computer screened. Anything suspicious is forwarded to a human for review. All the human sees is the "match-me" code. If a manual inspection is required, the reviewer hits a button to divert the bag for inspection and also flags the matching gate pass.

You swipe your gate pass at the checkpoint, show your ID, and go through the routine you normally do in this area. On the other side of the checkpoint are lounges, shops, and so forth. Finally, it is off to the boarding lounge, which you enter and exit (if you want to go to a shop or something else) by swiping the gate pass. When you board, you drop it in a slot. This system not only scans it, but also lets the airline know you are on the plane.

As your gate-pass is scanned, the system looks to see if the "match-me" has been tagged in any way. If it has, it allows security to get hold of you should a manual bag inspection be necessary, as it cannot happen till you are accounted for. It also lets the airline know you're at the gate and on the plane you're supposed to be on (no more flights to Springfield, MO when you intend to go to Springfield, MA *grin*) because it will let you know.

As for the cards: They're erased, sterilized (necessary in this day and age), and sent back to the check-in area for re-use.

If the system fails entirely, traditional manual screens go into effect. Passengers who misplace the gate-pass have to undergo manual verification screening. Since documents are still verified at the security checkpoint, hand-offs become difficult since the travel record is attached to the "match-me" code. These are but some of the built-in redundancies.

It sounds complex, but it is really a smooth, self-contained system.

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