The Next Logical Step

I've been flying regularly for a long time - long enough to remember the hub-bub caused by the introduction of e-tickets. Remember? You felt naked without your ticket and itinerary to hand to the person at the ticket counter. Slowly, starting in the 90's, e-tickets started to appear, and slowly people got used to them (when was the last time you had a paper ticket?)

Next we had terminals to check us in - we swipe a card and the machine checks us in and prints our boarding pass. This is becoming so prevalent that the new mid-field terminal being designed in Indianapolis is being redesigned before construction to take these ticketing machines into account in the terminal layout. My guess is that the by the time my son flies regularly on his own (he's 13) he'll rarely interact with a ticket agent, unless he's checking bags. By then though, the next trend of checking in over the internet will even reduce the value of these machines.

Why am I writing about this today? Because I flew Alaska Airlines yesterday for the first time in several years. And when I checked in at San Francisco airport, I got one boarding pass, for two flights. Just one.

This struck me as a nice improvement, seemingly small, but actually quite important.

Our paradigm has always been one event one ticket - whether for a movie, sporting event or a flight. And in all of these cases, you handed your ticket to someone and they ripped part of it off, returning to you the rest so you could still find your seat. But this isn't the way it is on a plane anymore.

Increasingly, you keep the ticket, as your boarding is confirmed when your ticket is scanned at the gate - and the airline doesn't need the paper (and I'm sure gate agents are thrilled that they don't have to deal with that paper anymore).

This change allows the paradigm to change. 1 boarding pass, 2 flights. Alaska saves paper and costs and I only have to carry one piece of paper. Everyone wins.

More important than these advantages though is the lesson it illustrates. We can look for new improvement opportunities and new ideas anytime, but when the system or circumstances have changed is an exceptionally good time to look.

Ask yourself what has changed, and what other advances can happen because of those changes.