Ex-Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor criticises ID checks at Indian airports, says ’DigiYatra only for digitally-savvy’

Former Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor on Sunday criticised the long entry queues and identification card checks at Indian airports, calling it a “bottleneck” for passengers.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kapoor wrote, “Airport entry queues and ID/ticket checks - India is the only major country I am aware of that requires this. I wonder if there is a way forward that does not require this bottleneck.”

He further mentioned that DigiYatra, an application which helps facilitate a smooth and paperless air-travel experience, is only for tech-savvy air travellers. “Digiyatra helps for the digitally-savvy, but is not there for International yet,” the ex-Jet Airways CEO added.

The DigiYatra initiative aims to provide travelers with a smooth travel experience by utilizing facial recognition technology for contactless identification at various points, including check-in, security, and boarding areas. 

This contactless identification service, introduced in December 2022, is currently operational at 13 airports, including those in Delhi, Bengaluru, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Vijayawada, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Cochin, Guwahati, Jaipur, and Lucknow.

Since its posting, some social media users have agreed with Sanjiv Kapoor, while others have stated that security checks are important to prevent random people from entering the airport premises. 

“Yes, countries like USA which takes security very seriously don't have this. Also, I used Spot Saver to clear the security check just under two minutes where the regular queue showed 50 minutes. And I didn't give any biometrics to use this,” one user commented. 

Another user said, “It's more to stop the hordes of families, seeing off their traveling loved ones, into the airport... I remember 40 years ago, it was hard to even stand in the check-in queues because each pax would have 4-5 people seeing them off.”

“The security checking the tickets at the entry arent well trained either. I was held up recently at PNQ cause the guy wasn't familiar with the destination airport. (It was LKO) ,but he kept asking random questions about the place as though he'd never heard of it,” the third user reacted. 

“I think this is the only way the security keeps random people from entering the terminal. Before an ultra long haul this is the last thing I would want to wait on,” the fourth person added.