More airlines set up do-it-yourself check-in machines By Donna Rosato, USA TODAY Self-service is in at airport check-in. To shorten lines at airline=20 check-in counters, major U.S. carriers are rolling out hundreds of=20 do-it-yourself check-in machines in preparation for summer travel. The=20 stand-alone machines let a traveler confirm a flight, choose a seat and=20 print a boarding pass in about one minute. Many also enable fliers to apply= =20 for upgrades, record frequent flier miles, check in luggage and make=20 changes to flights. Eventually, fliers will be able to get refunds and even= =20 purchase items such as headsets to hear onboard movies. Self-service=20 machines aren't new. Pacific Southwest Airlines installed the first=20 self-ticketing terminals in the 1980s, and Continental Airlines rolled out= =20 the first e-ticket check-in machines in 1995. But technology and=20 functionality have improved, and airlines are rapidly stepping up=20 installation of the machines to reduce airport waiting times. "Even though carriers aren't in the best financial shape, after 9/11 we're= =20 finding airlines are really increasing the penetration of these machines.=20 We've been surprised by the number of orders that have come in," says David= =20 Melnik, CEO of Kinetics USA (www.kineticsusa.com), which makes the machines= =20 for six major U.S. carriers and is working with two others to install them= =20 this summer. IBM and Sita are also suppliers. What some airlines have planned: =B7 Delta Air Lines is tripling its airport machines and will have= more=20 than 400 at 80 U.S. airports by year's end. =B7 United Airlines, which began rolling out its EasyCheck-in machines= =20 last summer at its Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco hubs, will add 50= =20 machines this year for a total of 304 machines at its nine biggest airports. =B7 American Trans Air, which installed more than a dozen machines at= =20 its Chicago Midway hub and two in Indianapolis in December, is adding 50=20 more this year and will have them at every airport it flies to by the end=20 of 2003. =B7 Southwest Airlines, the only major U.S. carrier that doesn't offer= =20 self check-in now, says it is working with a vendor to buy machines, and=20 plans to install them at airports soon. The self-check-in process is similar to using a bank automated teller=20 machine. Passengers must be using an electronic ticket and traveling within= =20 the USA. They insert a major credit card or frequent-flier card with a=20 magnetic strip to establish their identities, then follow instructions on a= =20 touch-screen to check in. Typically, fliers confirm their reservations and= =20 assigned seats on the screen, answer security questions and print boarding= =20 passes, itineraries and receipts. If there is luggage to check, baggage=20 tags are printed at the ticket counter, where agents assigned to helping=20 self-check-in customers tag bags and put them on a conveyor belt for=20 loading onto the plane. Though some machines are on concourses =97 Alaska=20 Airlines even installed machines at some airport hotels, off-airport=20 parking lots and a light rail station in Portland, Ore. =97 most are at or= =20 near ticket counters so fliers have the option of checking baggage. There are limitations. International travelers, who must show passports,=20 cannot use self check-in, though airlines say they are working on extending= =20 the service to international trips. And not every airline's kiosks offer=20 the same features. For example, American Airlines' OneStop Self Service=20 machines don't allow fliers to upgrade seats to a different cabin class.=20 Domestic travelers are flocking to the machines. Delta says about 6,000=20 travelers use the machines each day, up from 400 a day at the end of last=20 year. Alaska Airlines says one-third of its fliers check in electronically= =20 and that more than 5 million people have used its Instant Travel Machines=20 to date. Continental says more than 50% of its e-ticket travelers check in= =20 via the airline's eService Centers. "We cannot deploy these machines fast enough. Customers love them," says=20 Scott O'Leary, Continental's manager of eService programs. "We really saw=20 the value of them after 9/11. It really helped facilitate the check-in=20 process." O'Leary says as more customers get familiar with using them, the= =20 transaction time is dropping. The average transaction time is 65 seconds,=20 down from two to three minutes when the machines first came out. Airlines,= =20 which are running on leaner staffs after 9/11, also benefit, because the=20 machines free customer service agents to help travelers with more complex=20 issues instead of just processing check-ins. "This expedites the process=20 for passengers who don't need special service. Even when there are lines at= =20 the kiosks, they move quickly," says American Trans Air marketing vice=20 president Don Moonjian. there is also a comparison chart below http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/06/18/kiosks.htm The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (RBTT) http://www.rbtt.com/ (RBTT Financial Group) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************