Checking a bag at the Twin Cities airport? Just bring your face and your passport.
Delta on Monday debuted self-service kiosks aimed at speeding up lines. One of its four new machines is equipped with facial-recognition technology.
The technology verifies passengers by matching their faces with their passport photos. Atlanta-based Delta, the dominant carrier at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, says it's a first for U.S. carriers. The machines cost $600,000.
Travelers first print check-in tags for their bags at a kiosk, then approach the bag-drop area and go through one of two scanning processes. Travelers with passports can use the facial recognition scanning machine. If successfully verified — which takes 30 seconds, Delta said — they load their bags onto the belt.
If rejected, the traveler can try again or head to an agent for an in-person bag check.
Travelers without passports move on to the other three bag-drop machines, with a Delta agent present to check their ID.
Delta, in partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, is testing the same technology at international boarding gates in Atlanta and New York.
"We expect this investment and new process to save customers time," said Gareth Joyce, Delta's senior vice president for customer service and cargo.