American Airlines launches industry's first mobile scanning application

Registering for an international flight is now easier with the launch of passport scanning in the American Airlines mobile application. American is the first airline to offer passport chip scanning that transmits information securely directly from the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip embedded in the passport. This allows passengers to go directly to the boarding gate for international flights without having to re-check their passports with a customer service agent.

"We are constantly adding features to our application to make the trip easier and worry-free for our customers," said Maya Leibman, Director of Information Technology at American. "Mobile passport scanning eliminates a time-consuming step, providing our customers with an easier registration experience for international flights."

Currently, customers departing on international flights that register in the application, recheck their passports at the airport. This step is a requirement even if the passenger has uploaded a photo of their passport through the mobile application. With this new feature, the customer will be asked to enter their passport information and then scan their passport with an iOS or Android device. The application provides easy instructions for the process.

Mobile passport scanning is the latest in a long list of new features that American has implemented in the airline application to make the trip easier for customers. Other recent innovations include shipping notifications, Siri shortcuts and a dark mode option. American has also deployed additional services to enhance the travel experience, including international biometric boarding, virtual 3D aircraft online tours, a redesigned self-service kiosk that simplifies the registration process, and an improved approach to assigning seats to families, which ensures that adults and children under 14, traveling together and on the same reservation, feel together.