American Airlines offers mobile boarding passes

Passengers on American Airlines will be able to get boarding passes electronically on their mobile phones or PDAs at some airports beginning Thursday, avoiding the need for printed passes.

The carrier said the electronic passes were being introduced for passengers leaving on domestic flights from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

The passes will be offered on domestic flights from Los Angeles International and John Wayne Orange County airports beginning Monday, the carrier said.

If successful in those trials with the Transportation Safety Administration, the electronic passes could be extended to other U.S. airports, said American. Customers need an Internet-enabled mobile device on which they can get the bar code via e-mail. The bar code can be scanned at TSA security checkpoints and American Airlines gates.

To use the feature, passengers can list only one person on the reservation and must be traveling on American or American Eagle on a nonstop flight or a trip that doesn't involve a change in planes.