Air France no longer checking ID at boarding gates
Air France is no longer checking that passengers鈥� boarding documents match their ID at the point of aeroplane boarding, prompting concerns from a pilots鈥� union and the mayor of Nice.
Specifically, the airline will no longer check that passengers鈥� tickets match their identity documents when travelling on flights within France, and those within the Schengen zone. The measure will also apply to Hop! and Transavia routes, explains .
According to a spokesperson from Air France, the company 鈥渃onsiders that the procedure for verifying that the name on the passenger's boarding pass corresponds to the passenger's identity card has been obsolete since 1 November last year鈥�.
The checking was a measure that had been put in place since the now-lifted French state of emergency was imposed in November 2016, the company said, and it is now 鈥渂ack to what we were doing before鈥�.
Pilots鈥� union Le Syndicat des Pilotes de la Compagnie A茅rienne (SPAF) has warned that the practice will make it more difficult to identify passengers if necessary.
Speaking to , Gr茅goire Aplincourt, president of the SPAF, said: 鈥淲ith this measure, you could have a passenger on the plane who is attempting to commit a malicious act. Fortunately, baggage is screened, but overall, you could have a passenger who has had someone else buy his ticket for the wrong reasons.鈥�
Similarly, Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, tweeted his displeasure at the change, calling it 鈥渋nacceptable鈥� and demanding 鈥渢he re-establishment鈥� of the measure for 鈥渁ll companies鈥�.
And yet, Gilles Leclair, director of safety at Air France, , saying that it was not required by European regulations, and did not present a danger.
He said: 鈥淧ersons who arrive at the boarding gate are supposed to be secured, since they have passed through screening and have undergone the usual checks, i.e. X-ray screening of their carry-on baggage and sometimes a check for traces of explosives.
He added: 鈥淧eople who arrive at the boarding gate, if they are not the right person with the right identity, do not constitute a security problem when boarding the aircraft.鈥�
An Air France the company would 鈥渟tay alert to client reactions鈥� to the change, but said that the new measure would save passengers such significant time at the gate - on the point of boarding - that it was likely other airlines would follow the company鈥檚 lead in future.
