With the creation of kiosk-based check-in, and the relegating of all but one or two check-in counters to bag-checks…we wondered how long it would be before such a facility vanished entirely.
On the 10th of January, Alaska and Horizon Air unveiled a $18 millon plan to transform customer check-in at Seattle Airport. The concept, which was introduced in 2004, and patented by Alaska in 2006, eliminates the traditional check-in counter and provides islands of check-in kiosks and bag-check stations.
It was only a few years ago that check-in counters were full of check-in agents issuing boarding passes and taking luggage. Now…they have wheeled kiosks in front of the old counters. And with the long lines once given to check-in and baggage now just for baggage…we wonder what the improvement is for anyone checking luggage.
We can imagine further developments streamlining the process. Eventually, someone will come up with a baggage check-in station akin to the self-service registers at supermarkets. You run the barcode on your boarding pass under it, put each bag on a scale, affix the tags, and swipe a credit card for any charges.