Are you the type of traveler who skips the line at boarding calls? A major airline has a message for you: not so fast.

American Airlines is experimenting with new technology that triggers a signal to gate agents when a passenger attempts to board before their group.

If the passenger waits in line before their designated area has been called, they will not be able to scan their boarding pass when they arrive at the gate agent.

An American Airlines spokesperson said a gate agent would then “politely” tell the customer that they cannot accept their boarding pass and that they can join the queue when their area is called.

“We are in the first phase of testing the new technology used during the boarding process,” the spokesperson said in a statement to CBC News. The airline says it is satisfied with the results achieved so far.

“The new technology is designed to ensure customers easily receive the benefits of priority boarding and helps improve the boarding experience by providing greater visibility into boarding progress for our team.

The alert may be canceled in certain cases, such as when a passenger is traveling with someone with the airline’s elite status.

So far, the system is in place at three U.S. airports: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C., Albuquerque International Airport in New Mexico, and Tucson International Airport in Arizona .

Airline industry observers say it’s only a matter of time before the system is widely used, including in Canada. But the real problem is a shortage of air baggage space – that’s why people try to jump ahead in the first place.

“This is how we build a sort of societal norm”

As it has become common for airlines to “unbundle” plane tickets and invoice customers For checked baggage, more and more customers have chosen to bring their hand luggage, either to avoid additional fees or to avoid the risk of losing their luggage.

That has created a different problem for travelers and airlines, with customers competing for the limited number of overhead bins on each plane, said Ian Lee, a management professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business.

“Before, whether you were given a boarding pass with zone one, two, three or four wasn’t that critical,” Lee said. “Now it’s become the measure of how likely you are to be able to put your luggage in the overhead bin.”

Rather than asking travelers to pay for carry-on baggage, American Airlines opted for a gentler solution: enforcing the queue. But sending back line-jumping passengers to their zone means those passengers still get the short end of the carry-on bag.

“This will only ensure that the queue is respected,” Lee said. “It doesn’t create more space for the overhead compartments.”

The technology American Airlines uses is likely cheap and easy to implement, he added. “I expect it to come to Canada.”

Graeme Bligh, a frequent flyer from Winnipeg who runs a travel website called The Canadian Jetsetter, described the rush to the boarding gate — especially after zone three — as a free-for-all.

“Everyone seems to perceive that it is nicer to board the airline or the plane earlier,” he said, adding that a few innocent passers-by may not think much of it. attention.

“But they’ll probably remember it and learn pretty quickly if they’re a little bit ashamed outwardly. And that’s kind of how you build a kind of societal norm.”

Bligh added that he wouldn’t be surprised if more carriers in the United States and Canada took inspiration from American Airlines.

“I think if American doesn’t face a lot of backlash, I predict every other major player in North America will follow suit.”

Representatives from WestJet and Porter Airlines told CBC News they are not currently considering changes to the boarding process. Air Canada did not respond to a request for comment.