Here's How Pearson Airport & Air Canada's New AI Technology Could Impact Your Next Flight

Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Air Canada have both ventured into the world of artificial intelligence, more commonly known as AI, to help improve the overall experience for travellers, from airport security to boarding.

But despite the fact that Canada's largest airline and the country's busiest airport have taken similar steps in this direction, what they're both doing here is actually quite different.

Air Canada is using artificial intelligence as part of a newly launched facial recognition technology system to speed up the boarding process, while Pearson Airport's AI system is used during airport security to detect dangerous or prohibited items.

Both the airport and the airline are the first in Canada to test out AI, but what's also important to know, is both are still in the very early stages of using this technology.

Here's what it means for you on your next flight.

Pearson Airport

Air Canada

As for Air Canada's new AI-powered facial recognition technology, it's much harder to miss.

With pilot projects underway at Pearson Airport and Vancouver International Airport (YVR), travellers will notice a set of gates to walk through that can be used to identify them using the technology during boarding or when entering an airport lounge.

Anyone who chooses to use it will first have to create a digital profile through the Air Canada app, scan the appropriate documents, and also upload a selfie.

Importantly, this entire process and the use of Air Canada's AI-powered facial recognition technology is completely optional and you can still board a plane the old-fashioned way, by presenting your ID and scanning your boarding pass.

Unsurprisingly, the airline's announcement of the technology on Twitter was met with some skepticism, particularly from people who wondered whether using this AI was mandatory.

"Many of our customers already utilize digital credentials to simplify their daily activities such as unlocking mobile phones, entering workplaces, verifying identification during financial transactions and more," said Craig Landry, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at Air Canada in a press release. "We are very excited to now take a leadership position in Canada and test digital identification using facial recognition technology to validate customer identification quickly, securely and accurately at select airport touchpoints."

Canada's Transport Minister Omar Alghabra added this technology, "has great potential in making gate boarding easier and faster."

So, is this just the first step of facial recognition technology being used widely for air travel?

"The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is not currently looking at this technology for use in its security operations," a GTAA spokesperson confirmed to Narcity. "Any questions about it should be directed to the airline."

So far, Air Canada has said it plans to expand this technology to other Canadian airports and airport lounges throughout its pilot project.