Due to expand of technology, fast service quality and security consideration, five major America’s airlines have been quietly offering boarding passes to their customers that could be downloaded right to a mobile phone.
It’s an idea the federal government’s Transportation Security Administration is advancing that it thinks will load planes faster while maintaining security.
American Airlines is offering the electronic boarding passes, joining Delta, Alaska Air, Northwest and 
Continental, which already have the downloadable tickets at the selected airports.
The system works similar to the system for printing boarding passes at home from images on the Internet. But instead of printing, a two-dimensional bar code is sent to a selected/designated mobile phone or palmtop.
A hand held scanner then reads the bar code right from the phone screen. (Here is a video of the process.)
The phone passes conform to a new worldwide standard proposed by the International Air Transport Association.
How fast it rolls out depends on public demand, said a TSA spokesman, “The market will dictate how widely this get adopted and how quickly.”
The service is available now for passengers departing on domestic flights from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Passengers will be able to use these two-dimensional barcode boarding passes instead of the normal paper boarding pass. The new boarding pass available for Los Angeles and John Wayne outbound flights starting from November 17 2008.
“When you are traveling on select itineraries from Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Los Angeles International (LAX) and Santa Ana John Wayne/Orange County (SNA) airports, you now have the option to have your boarding pass sent directly to your mobile phone or other mobile device – saving paper and time. Eligible itineraries include non-stop flights with only one passenger listed in the record locator*. Follow the easy steps below for your next applicable flight from ORD, LAX or SNA:
How to use the Mobile Boarding Pass:
1. Check in on AA.com (or AA.com Mobile). Choose “Email for use on Cell Phone or other Mobile Device” option and include the e-mail address for your web-enabled mobile phone and/or mobile device.
2. Check your email from your mobile device. Follow the link on the email to retrieve your Mobile Boarding Pass.
3. Save the boarding pass to your device. Click the “Save Boarding Pass” button directly below the barcode to save it to your phone for easy access at the security checkpoint (check your phone/PDA manual to locate where the Boarding Pass will save).
4. Proceed to Security. When you arrive at security, make sure the entire barcode is visible on the screen of your mobile phone or mobile device and have the backlight setting set to the brightest mode possible. If you have any problems, you will be given the opportunity to print a paper boarding pass at the self-service machines.
