Delta testing elimination of paper boarding passes

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 17, 2008 | by Cox News Service

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines is testing a plan to allow you to eliminate one more carry-on item: Your paper boarding pass.

Starting today, the Atlanta-based carrier is launching an electronic boarding pass option for passengers on domestic flights out of New York's LaGuardia Airport. Delta plans to launch the electronic boarding pass in Atlanta by the end of the year.

The pass will allow passengers to use Web-enabled mobile phones and devices to check in online at mobile.delta.com. They will download an electronic boarding pass with a barcode that can be scanned at the security checkpoint and boarding gate.

Houston-based Continental Airlines in December launched a similar electronic boarding pass program, now available at a handful of airports it serves. Northwest Airlines, with which Delta has plans to merge, added an electronic boarding pass in May for passengers traveling out of Indianapolis.

Delta, like Continental and Northwest, based in Eagan, Minn., is working under a Transportation Security Administration pilot program.