Paper Airline Tickets

This weekend I had to stay in the Bay Area for a mock earthquake drill. As luck would have it, there was an actual earthquake, albeit only a 3.2 magnitude rumble. As I didn't go back to Utah for the weekend, I decided to fly my wife to San Francisco and have her join me. It turned out to be a very fun weekend and we both enjoyed it a lot.

As with all airlines, my wife checked into her flight 24 hours before its scheduled departure. She then printed up her own ticket that she brought to the airport. For the return trip, we visited my office and repeated the process. The airline never had to print anything for my wife's flight. I have to ask myself how much the airline saves in paper and printing costs. I imagine it is significant.

Then there are applications for smart phones from most of the major airlines that don't require you to use any paper at all for your ticket. Simply bring up the app, show the special bar code at security, and then again before you board the plane.

20 years ago everyone was talking about how computers would reduce the amount of paper in the world. Unfortunately everyone was so accustomed to printing things that we saw a spike in the amount of paper used worldwide. Maybe now we should see that statistic drop. Unfortunately a quick search on the Internet doesn't provide any clue as to it that is happening or not. At least we know it is with regards to airline tickets.