American Airlines is now extending its mobile boarding pass option to a total of six airports nationwide, with the expectation to include more airports in the near future.

American Airlines customers departing from any one of these six airports can now choose to receive electronic boarding passes on their mobile devices or PDA's. Customers can elect to use mobile boarding passes on any domestic flight from these airports, including connecting flights through any other participating airport.

"Our customers are mobile by definition," said Stacey Frantz, spokeswoman at American Airlines, Dallas-Fort Worth, TX. "We know they're on the go, tech-savvy and are early adopters. We are looking for meaningful ways to make travel on American even more convenient for them.

"Plus, our ultimate goal is to ensure our customers have access to us when they want to through whatever channel is most convenient for them," she said. "Today, our customers are aggressively adopting mobile applications -- from Mobile Boarding to AA.com Mobile."

The first airports to allow the mobile boarding pass were introduced in late 2008 and include Chicago's O'Hare International (ORD), Los Angeles International (LAX), and John Wayne Orange County (SNA) airports.

In a partnership with the United States Transportation Security Administration, American Airlines launched these airports and recently added Las Vegas McCarran International (LAS), Jackson Atlanta International (ATL), and Minneapolis -- St. Paul International (MSP) airports.

American Airlines claims that mobile phones and PDA's are ubiquitous among its customers and that the decision to introduce mobile boarding passes leverages the devices to make traveling as simple as possible.

Customers who select the mobile option can go straight to security and then to the gate without any paper, saving time, energy, and in a small way, the environment.

"Mobile optimization is important for all travelers -- but especially for business travelers, who, with increased mobility, see increased productivity and flexibility to do all kinds of work from just about anywhere," Ms. Frantz said.

"The most obvious benefit to mobile boarding is speed and convenience -- no stopping to print a boarding pass," she said.

Requirements for mobile boarding passes include an active email address to which a boarding pass can be sent and a Web-enabled mobile device where a 2-D barcode can be received.

Customers can choose the mobile option by going to the traditional desktop version of http://www.AA.com or by visiting the mobile version.

Users are allowed only one person in their reservation and must be traveling via American Airlines or American Eagle to a domestic location on a nonstop, same-plane direct flight, or a flight that connects at one of the six participating airports.

American considers domestic locations to be those in the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

"Frankly, our customers expect this of us," Ms. Frantz said.

"They expect us to understand that they're on the go, so the more we're able to give customers the information they need in a format that is quick and easy and through a medium that is designed for travel, the better we are able to respond to our customers' needs."

The process starts when customers check in via the American Web site and are given the option to receive boarding passes on their mobile phones. Upon selection of this option, users are sent an email with a Web link to the boarding pass which contains a 2-D barcode.

The bar code can be scanned at TSA security check points and at any American Airlines gate.

By scanning the mobile screen at security and the gate, customers can completely bypass the paper aspect of travel. Proper identification is still required along with the mobile boarding pass.

American Airlines didn't forget bag check in this implementation. Customers can scan their mobile boarding pass at any one of the self-service machines, ticket counters, or curbside check-in facilities.

Customers still have the original options of printing their boarding pass immediately and emailing it to themselves for printing, but with this new mobile arrival, customers can also email boarding passes to themselves for mobile use.

"The beauty of this technology is that there are so many ways to make it work for the individual," Ms. Frantz said. "A personalized experience is what every consumer is looking for, and that's what mobile technology will offer as it continues to evolve."