Texas Border Business
Texas Border Business
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has implemented Enhanced Passenger Processing (EPP), a touchless biometric system that uses facial recognition to verify identities at international arrival passport checkpoints. The technology, deployed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is already in place at 11 major U.S. airports and is designed to reduce wait times by roughly 25% for U.S. citizens. At the same time, non-U.S. travelers see screening times drop from about 50 to under 35 minutes.
Travelers approach a camera-operated tablet that quickly compares their live image to government-held records. They proceed if a match is confirmed; if not, they are referred to a CBP officer for further review. CBP emphasizes that officers retain full authority and final decision-making capabilities.
DFW has invested over $32 million in upgrades to international traveler technology. The system supports the airport’s goal of handling growing traffic, with international passenger volumes projected to reach around seven million annually by 2030.
Biometric rollout follows previous EPP deployments at JFK and elsewhere, and CBP now uses facial recognition at 238 U.S. airports, including departures and preclearance sites, with a growing airline partnership.
American Airlines, DFW’s dominant carrier, began piloting biometric bag drop in 2020, enabling travelers to check bags without showing a physical ID. In earlier programs, it pioneered biometric boarding at DFW and LAX, verifying identities against CBP records before boarding begins. More recently, American teamed with CBP, TSA, and UK authorities on a “One Stop Security” pilot: U.S. passengers connecting through DFW to London Heathrow (and onward international flights) can bypass additional re‑screening and bag re‑check at Heathrow.
Despite efficiency gains, privacy advocates remain wary. A U.S. Senate bill introduced last month would prohibit retaining or sharing facial recognition data and mandate that travelers must actively opt in without suffering delays if they decline.
Alternatives remain that enrolled travelers can access Global Entry, which offers expedited re‑entry, and those opting out of EPP can still undergo standard passport checks. Source : https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2019/Biometric-Boarding-Arrives-at-DFW-for-American-Airlines-Customers/default.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com
