Survey Research Points to Shifting Attitudes About Airport Biometrics

Americans are ready for airport biometrics, suggests new survey research from Acuant.

Conducted by Wakefield Research, an online survey of 1,000 US adults found that 84 percent of respondents believed biometric technology would improve the travel experience at the airport. Fifty-nine percent said they think the technology can improve safety, while 56 percent agreed that it could improve speed and efficiency in security screening.

Border authorities are even more confident in the technology, with the US Customs and Border Protection agency having rapidly expanded a biometric screening program based on facial recognition over the last few years, and planning to bring it to all of America’s airports. A growing number of airports and airlines are getting onboard too, with the head of the World Travel & Tourism Council having been increasingly vocal about the organization’s support for biometric passenger processing technologies as a means of coping with increasing traveler volumes and stringent security requirements.

The authorities appear to be ahead of the curve, if not shaping it, with Acuant’s research showing a generational shift in attitudes about innovative air travel technologies. Eighty-five percent of Millennials said they were comfortable with using biometric technology at the airport, compared to 76 percent of Gen Xers and 74 percent of Boomers. That points to a clear upwards trajectory in travelers’ interest in airport biometrics as the authorities continue to escalate their programs.

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November 14, 2018 – by Alex Perala