Delta Air Lines has invested $600,000 in four self-service bag drop-off machines at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The machines allow passengers to check their own bags. Passengers will print baggage tags from a kiosk then scan their boarding passes with the self-service equipment. The machine also will weigh the baggage, recording the weight.
One of the machines matches passengers with their passport photos using facial recognition technology.
Delta will collect customer feedback during the trial period.
“For customers, this technology eliminates friction and offers the opportunity to design your own experience,” Toby Broberg, vice president of airport customer service at Minneapolis-St. Paul, said. “And the self-service aspect will free up more Delta people, giving our agents added flexibility in their interactions with customers to deliver on the excellent service for which Delta is known.”
Minneapolis-St. Paul is Delta’s second largest hub.
Delta is developing other customer-service technologies, such as biometrics. Delta is testing a biometric-boarding pass at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which works by using fingerprints to prove identity.
Biometrics are also being tested at New York-JFK and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airports for international flights as part of a partnership between Delta and Customs and Border Protection.