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Comments (4)
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Save/ShareWho needs a gate agent to take your barcoded boarding pass and scan it before you walk down the jetway to your plane?
That's the question Las Vegas officials asked themselves. Their answer? Replace the gate agents with automated turnstiles. Let the passengers scan their own boarding passes, just like self-service check-out lanes at the grocery store. (Obviously, this process would happen after passengers have already passed through the security checkpoints.)
McCarran Airport's new Terminal 3 project is expected to debut the hight-tech turnstiles when it opens in 2012. If successful, you can be sure the cost-saving measure will be applied by other airports.
Meanwhile, for arriving international passengers, McCarran Airport is already introducing a do-it-yourself passport control kiosk.
Pretty soon we'll be flying the planes ourselves.
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Lufthansa does this in Europe. And it's a disaster. The scanner has trouble reading the passes. Some people can't figure out what they're supposed to do. There is still a gate agent there troubleshooting and trying to manage the entry points (because they don't have -- or enforce -- boarding priority zones). So, it ends up creating much more work and frustrating for everyone.
I'm all for self-serve. I try to do so at the grocery store, at airline check-in, at hotels, whenever/wherever possible. But I haven't seen self-serve for boarding at the gate be effective or practical at all. There still needs to be human supervision (for logistical purposes), so there's just not a benefit to doing this.
Posted By mikey on September 22, 2009, 4:38 PM
Hi Mikey,
Thanks for your comment. Interesting about the troubles with the DIY turnstiles in Europe.
Best,
Sean
blog editor
Posted By Blog Editor on September 22, 2009, 5:04 PM
More dehumanizing of an already dehumanizing experience. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your point of view, air travel is still not an experience akin to riding high speed rail. People are stressed, anxious and need the reassurance that only a person can provide.
Posted By Clark on September 22, 2009, 8:44 PM
I just think they will have to put up a fight with the employees. The airport in LAS wants to run every airline and wants to be in control.
I just do not seeing this happening.
Posted By Airline Employee on September 23, 2009, 12:49 AM