JetBlue cuts queues

A British company has partnered with New York based jetBlue Airways to reduce queues for international flights.

On 12 January 2021, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA ordered all airlines carrying passengers internationally into the US to collect an attestation as proof of being fully vaccinated against, or having recovered from, Covid-19.

Since its introduction, there have been numerous updates to the CDC’s mandate, including the collection of Contact Tracing data, resulting in a five-page pdf document that must be completed and printed by every applicable passenger and validated by airport staff at check-in.

Collecting these paper forms at the airport and having to physically store them for two years for auditing requirements was causing huge delays and significant costs for jetBlue.

15below, based in Brighton (England), has automated the whole operation. The microsite can be accessed via three methods which are fully compliant with the CDC’s order. It is available in multiple languages, automatically updates bookings to verify the attestation has been collected and is stored on a 15below-hosted server allowing quick access to the data, which can be provided to the CDC within 24hrs if requested.

“Seeing the improvement in the airport experience at our international airports has confirmed to us that this was without a doubt the right thing to do for the well-being of our customers and our crewmembers, in addition to our environment by removing the need for paper”, says Carol Clement, jetBlue’s Chief Digital & Technology Officer.

Within one week of going live, jetBlue saw 70% of all attestations completed via the microsite alone, significantly easing queues at the airport and offering passengers a vastly improved travel experience.

Now, six months later, 100% of attestation and contact tracing data is collected via this online process and automated/online check-in has been restored.