American Airlines Expands Crackdown on Group-Jumpers

American Airlines is cracking down on gate-jumpers this holiday season, rolling out new technology to stop passengers from sneaking ahead of their group to more airports.

The airline announced this week that it has expanded its anti-group-jumper (or anti-gate-lice) technology to more than 100 non-hub U.S. airports. Originally introduced last month at Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), and Tucson International Airport (TUS), the system is now live at airports, including Austin-Bergstrom International (AUS) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL).

In the coming months, American says the technology will be expanded to its hubs and other airports as part of a widespread rollout plan.

This new system is part of a broader update to American’s in-house software platform, designed to improve flight tracking and boarding.

The key change for passengers is that the new system will prevent those trying to board early by rejecting their boarding pass scan and alerting the agent with an audible sound. The agent will then pull the passenger off line, and then direct them to return only when their group is called.

While American flight attendants had, in the past, denied boarding to some trying to skip ahead. What’s new now is that the technology used when scanning boarding passes will deny boarding to those trying to jump ahead.

“We’ve heard from our customers that the ability to board with their assigned group is important to them because it’s a benefit associated with their AAdvantage status or fare purchase,” said Julie Rath, American’s Senior Vice President of Airport Operations, Reservations and Service Recovery. “The initial positive response from customers and team members has exceeded our expectations, so we are thrilled to leverage this technology to deliver for them ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.”