As life becomes more high-tech and mobile to the point of becoming a third arm, it’s not surprising to see all businesses, not just those in the travel industry, scrambling to incorporate accessibility as a priority within their commercial models.
British Airways has taken an extraordinary step beyond the online check-in, which is currently being tested in France. The initiative will have passengers automatically checked-in without so much as lifting a finger.
Apple fans have their integrated electronic check in app Passbook, but many corporate flyers still have Android, Windows and Blackberry so it’s of no help to them. British Airways are working on a system that will assign a seat and check passengers in automatically, assign seats, receive an electronic boarding pass, and there’s one less thing to worry about.
Considerations such as seat choice will still be available according to the airline, so if a window seat is not your choice they intend to record those details, ostensibly building their passenger preference database and eliminating the need to check-in at all.
Corporate travellers will most appreciate the initiative and can basically just walk onto the aircraft with their carry-on luggage. To be fair Air France already provides automatic check-in on certain sectors, a choice you can select while making your booking online. They also allow you to change your seat online prior to departure if you so choose.
Now if only we can have someone pack for us, transport us to the airport and deposit and retrieve our luggage while we’re sipping a cool drink, life would be pretty good.
