American tests cell phone boarding passes

CHICAGO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- American Airlines says it's testing a new kind of boarding pass in Chicago allowing fliers to flash a bar code e-mailed to their mobile phones.

Under the paperless system, the airline e-mails a boarding pass bar code to the ticketholder, who opens the e-mail on an Internet-enabled device -- such as cell phone or Blackberry -- holds it up to a scanner and boards the plane, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

The technology was rolled out this week on a test basis at American's security checkpoints at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the newspaper said. American joins Continental and Delta airlines in testing the process.

The new system is more secure than paper boarding passes, American spokesman Billy Sanez told the newspaper, saying that while paper boarding passes are scanned only at the gate, mobile passes are scanned twice -- once at the gate and also at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints.

The e-mailed boarding passes also use an encryption technology to prevent forgeries, officials told the Tribune.