A new effort is underway to stop so-called “gate lice” at the airport – a term used to refer to those travelers who try to board a plane in an earlier group than their ticket permits.
American Airlines began testing new technology to cut down on those travelers getting on the plane before their turn.
How does it work? If a customer tries to board early, the system won’t be able to scan the ticket and it will make a sound. The customer will hop out of line, and wait.
Only several airports are testing it – Albuquerque International Sunport, Tucson International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“I think people should be called out on it. There’s a purpose why our boarding passes state what zone or what group we’re in,” says traveler Maria Isabel Frias.
“I think people could be a little bit patient, just waiting to be called on does speed up the process,” says traveler Keyla Ramirez.
But the practice of being “gate lice” doesn’t bother everyone.
“I don’t really mind it because we’re all going to the same place at the same time,” says traveler Ken.
“It’s like a first-world problem. If someone gets on the plane before me, I don’t really care,” says traveler Lauren Phoenix.
A spokesperson for American Airlines said in a statement, “We are in the early phase of testing new technology used during the boarding process. The new technology is designed to ensure customers receive the benefits of priority boarding with ease and helps improve the boarding experience by providing greater visibility into boarding progress for our team.”
“I think it’s going to be great, it’s taking more accountability and people are going to get embarrassed so they’re not going to do it,” said Ramirez.
American Airlines says they’ve been pleased with the results from testing the new technology so far.
This post was originally published on here
