American Airlines Now Supports iOS 26's Revamped Wallet Boarding Passes

[MacRumors]

American Airlines is now supporting the enhanced boarding pass feature that Apple added in iOS 26. The app's latest update says boarding passes in the Wallet app feature an updated look with Apple Maps integration, destination guides, and luggage tracking capabilities.

Apple revamped boarding passes in iOS 26 to make them more useful to passengers who are using their iPhones for flights in lieu of a paper boarding pass. Boarding passes have maps for navigating through airports, an option to tap into Find My to track items equipped with AirTags, and tools for reporting missing bags to airlines. From American Airlines:

Your boarding pass has a new look with more at your fingertips, like Apple Maps, destination guides, and quick shortcuts to the app. You can also track your luggage and open Find My right from your pass.

Airlines need to opt in to the new boarding passes and update their apps with support. United Airlines, Air Canada, and Southwest already have the enhanced boarding passes. Delta briefly added support, but removed it shortly after.

Apple also implemented Live Activities support for airlines so users can get real-time updates on a flight in iOS 26, but it is not clear if American Airlines is supporting that feature based on the app's release notes.

Back in June 2025, Apple said American Airlines was one of the airlines that would add support for the refreshed boarding passes. Other airlines listed included Air Canada, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, Jetstar, Lufthansa Group, Qantas, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Virgin Australia.

American Airlines has also supported the Find My lost luggage tracking feature since February 2025. In iOS 18, Apple worked with airlines to make it easier for airline employees to locate lost baggage using AirTags.

Article Link: American Airlines Now Supports iOS 26's Revamped Wallet Boarding Passes

 

[LordArchie]

A little more data makes sense... slowly squeezing Flighty out

 

[MrRom92]

Meanwhile I can’t even get the British airways app to find my booking

 

[iansilv]

How about being able to send more than one in a text message to one person, and add them all from the flight apps instead of one by one?

 

[sppunk]

Flew AA today and live updates were available

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Good to see! AA has the best & most diverse schedule out of our small-ish airport, so it's my default on most trips.

 

[mannyvel]

Having the arrival gate is great for those of us who always have connecting flights.

"Do I have to run for 5 miles or walk for 2 gates?" is always the question for connecting flights.

 

[ikramerica]

I was on a recent AA flight and the app added info to the Dynamic Island like flight time and icon to show flight state. Kinda cool, but I was already aware what phase of flight I was in because I was on the plane.

How about being able to send more than one in a text message to one person, and add them all from the flight apps instead of one by one?

Right?

 

[b.williams]

“Destination guides” aka ads.

 

[jgleigh]

I was on a recent AA flight and the app added info to the Dynamic Island like flight time and icon to show flight state. Kinda cool, but I was already aware what phase of flight I was in because I was on the plane.

Right?

Did you connect to the on-board WiFi to keep it updating while in-flight?

 

[chi-tamarindo]

United also stopped supporting it shortly after rollout. They are not currently supporting the new boarding passes - I received the new style twice, shortly after iOS 26 launched and then they reverted to the old style and as recently as last week were still using the old style.

 

[Marzzz]

A little more data makes sense... slowly squeezing Flighty out

I only use Flighty on rare occasions, but it has saved my butt multiple times. Frequently I would get updates even before the airline staff…

 

[svish]

Good to see this. Will be useful. Expecting more airlines to support this globally in the near future.

 

[ikramerica]

Did you connect to the on-board WiFi to keep it updating while in-flight?

Yes. Free for Aadvantage members now.

But even if it wasn’t, you can connect to it for IFE and use of AA app.

 

[Pinterra]

What was Delta's problem with it?

 

[Agile.Eye]

Just wait until you are in a terminal making a late dash for your flight and trying to search for “Gate 5” in that integrated Maps feature and up pops an ad for a great deal on five gates being offered by some peddler of access control systems…

 

[LordArchie]

I wrote a little "recipe" in POKE that tracks my flight, free and the last couple of flights it was extremely accurate and quick in tracking my flights and two gate changes. (100% free, via iMessage/WhatsApp/Telegram, no spam) POKE is an interesting platform

https://poke.com/r/N2QnbfybmSjXX

Remove the XX at the end, for some reason the forum blocks

 

[Allwordzaremadeup]

Unfortunately, I won't be able to take advantage of this since I always fly as a non-rev and my booking information isn't available in the app.