TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is now available at Albuquerque International Sunport and Will Rogers International Airport in Oklahoma City, adding two more airports to the facial-comparison program that lets eligible travelers verify their identity without handing over a physical ID or boarding pass. At participating lanes, a traveler pauses at a camera and the system compares a live facial image against a photo already on file.
Touchless ID works by matching a live capture at the checkpoint against a pre-staged gallery of passport or visa photo templates held by the Transportation Security Administration. A traveler who is enrolled in TSA PreCheck opts in through a participating airline’s profile, and during mobile check-in the airline flags eligible passengers and invites them to take part. At the checkpoint, the facial comparison stands in for the manual document and boarding-pass check in enabled lanes, though travelers can decline and go through the standard process instead.
The opt-in is tied to the airlines. Touchless ID is currently supported by five major US carriers, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Alaska Airlines, and a traveler must have the program enabled in one of those airline profiles for the facial match to be available. The system draws the gallery photo from the traveler’s existing passport or government records rather than capturing a new enrollment image at the airport.
The two additions extend a rapid 2026 expansion of the program. The TSA set a target of reaching 65 airports with Touchless ID facial matching by spring 2026, a buildout the agency has tied to the surge in travel expected around this summer’s World Cup, and has been switching on lanes at airports including Denver International. Albuquerque and Oklahoma City are among the airports brought online as that target was met.
Facial recognition at airport checkpoints has drawn privacy scrutiny, particularly around how images are captured, matched, and retained, which is why the TSA has built the program as opt-in with a manual alternative. The agency says the live image is used for the comparison at the checkpoint, and the program remains a field demonstration that eligible PreCheck travelers choose to join rather than a mandatory screening step.
Sources: Transportation Security Administration (Albuquerque), Transportation Security Administration (Will Rogers)
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
