Alaska Airlines gets rid of recording kiosks at airports - will others follow?
The carrier indicates that changes should speed up the process of capturing your flight.
The process of crossing the airport to take your flight can add a serious time to your travel day. From long security lines For struggling with luggage , there is a chance that you can spend as long to embark as you do it in the sky. Fortunately, some carriers see the advantage of facilitating the lives of passengers and implementing changes to smooth the experience by plane. And now Alaska Airlines has announced that he would get rid of his recording kiosks at airports as part of his initiative to move things. Read the rest to see what it could mean for your next trip and if other companies will follow suit.
Read this then: Delta and United no longer go to these 4 cities, from June 2 .
Alaska Airlines changes its airport experience by getting rid of the recording kiosks.
Technology changes a lot on how we travel, how we reserve the flights to the way we mount aircraft. Now Alaska Airlines has announced that she would get rid of her registration kiosks at the airport.
In a press release of April 18, the carrier said that changes were part of his $ 2.5 billion in investment towards improving the experience of the airport for travelers. In the end, the airline claims that its goal is to pass travelers in the hall and to security in five minutes or less.
"While we are thinking about how to provide the most attentive experience for our guests, it was clear that the hall was a point of pain", " CHARU JAIN , Alaska Airlines main vice-president of innovation and merchandising, said in the press release.
So far, the airline has already deleted its kiosks at Portland airports, Oregon; Las Vegas, Nevada; Indianapolis, Indiana; Cleveland, Ohio; Missoula, Montana; And Boisse, Idaho, reports the points Guy. In addition, the carrier said that he would remove stations in his busiest destinations in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and then anchorage before completing the changes on the scale of the company by the end of the 'year.
Passengers will use their phones as a boarding card and check the luggage in the new stations.
After being the first airline to introduce recording kiosks to the airport experience about 20 years ago, Alaska Airlines is now the first to remove them. But the company claims that travelers are now ready for change, with three out of four passengers already presenting themselves with a leave-up ready to go thanks in part to its dedicated application.
"We realized that the majority of our guests carried out most of the actions of the kiosk on their own phones, and we could reduce congestion in our airports," Jain said.
The company says that the "dated" kiosks will be replaced by new iPad stations that will allow customers to pay for checkered baggage and printing bags. From there, the passengers will take their luggage in an automated bag deposit station, where they will scan their faces, their identity document issued by the government and the labels before their luggage is taken to a treadmill.
According to the press release, the airline claims that most airports will go to the new bag label system by the end of 2023. The carrier hubs will move to the new baggage fall configuration by spring next year.
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Travelers will always have access to support staff in lobbies.
Despite the many changes that will automate the process before the flight, travelers will not be without helping the human hand when they need it. The company says that the changes will allow the staff of airlines to better help anyone with a problem or a question and ultimately speed up the process to arrive at the door.
"As part of this, it is not planned to reduce the staff. We want to make sure that our agents are available to take care of our guests," said Jain, by USA today . "While airports become more congestioned, how to improve flow through it? This is not to focus on costs, it really reinvents customer experience."
Alaska Airlines experiences other time saving characteristics.
It is not the only time recently when the carrier announced changes in the name of efficiency. Last September, Alaska Airlines announced that it ended its luggage at home print equipment and experimenting with a new Electronic bag label . AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
The revolutionary function allows travelers to activate an electronic paper screen using their phone when recording 24 hours before their flight. In January, the airline said it had extended the program to 2,500 "elite flyers" Who provide comments to refine the process, reports Skift.
But will the other carriers follow by abandoning the recording kiosks? When he was contacted to comment, an American Airlines spokesperson led Better life to information on their existing kiosks, which offer a printing function of an express bag bag. United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways have no comments on potential changes yet.