JetBlue Redesigns Mint

JetBlue has revealed a first look at its revamped Mint business class product which is set to debut on the carrier’s flights to London this summer. The new cabin will be featured on JetBlue’s single-aisle A321 LR aircraft configured with 24 private suites, including two larger Mint Studios at the front of the cabin.

JetBlue, which first launched the Mint product on transcontinental flights in 2014, says the revamped product is also set to debut on a selected flights between New York and Los Angeles in June, in a 16-seat configuration. The carrier announced plans for transatlantic flights in 2019, but at this writing there’s still no firm launch date and no additional details about the configuration of the rest of the aircraft. jetblue.com

Delta Air Lines is piloting a digital ID program at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to use facial recognition for selected customers on domestic flights. Customers can opt into the voluntary trial at check-in if their passport information and TSA Pre Check Known Traveler Number are stored in their Skymiles profile in the Fly Delta app.

Facial recognition is used instead of the customer’s physical ID and boarding pass to go through the dedicated domestic TSA Pre Check security lane. Delta says it plans to extend the technology to bag drop and boarding in early 2021, making Detroit the first airport to offer a facial recognition option from curb to gate. The carrier stresses that it “does not save or store any biometric data, nor does it plan to.”

The initiative builds on Delta’s existing biometric options for customers, including the launch of its “end-to-end biometric terminal” at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport in 2018. delta.com