American Airlines has equipped employees at nine airports — including Dallas/Fort Worth International — with a new handheld device that can print bag tags and boarding passes in an effort to eliminate long check-in lines.
American has dubbed the device YADA: Your Assistance Delivered Anywhere.
"Today, customers interact with airport employees primarily at the counters in front of and behind security," said American vice president of airport services planning Mark DuPont. "YADA allows us to better assist customers anywhere in the airport, especially during weather-related, off-schedule operations when lines can become long."
American has been experimenting with the mobile technology at Boston's Logan airport since last summer.
Besides D/FW, American has deployed the devices at New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports, Chicago, Miami, Boston, Albuquerque N.M., St. Louis, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Fort Worth-based airline said it hopes to eventually have a YADA device at every gate.
E-mail jwhitely@wfaa.com
