Boarding passes could be going away

Boarding passes and checking in for flights may soon join Pan Am and smoking on planes in the obsolete pile. The International Civil Aviation Organization—the UN body that crafts airline policy from which the FAA takes cues—is considering the biggest shake-up to air travel in 50 years, The Times of London reports.

What it entails: Under the new rules, passengers would be issued a “journey pass” when they book a flight. This digital boarding pass replacement will be automatically updated if changes are made to the booking or flights are delayed. Passengers will also be able to upload their passports to their phones.

Additionally, these rules would eliminate manual check-in, with airlines notified when passengers arrive at the airport via facial recognition scanners.

About the journey, not the destination: The moves are part of a larger push to streamline the air travel experience and bring it in line with modern technological standards, an effort many analysts compare to the implementation of e-ticketing in the early 2000s. Most of the systems used by airlines—including the one that caused Southwest’s December 2023 meltdown—are decades old.

Looking ahead…These changes could come in two to three years, according to The Times.