Love articles like these where assumptions are challenged, and people (read: big companies) are willing to question why they do the things they do.
It's Wednesday morning at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and the United Airlines check-in area is a mob scene. Passengers queue up in a line that runs the length of the counter and doubles back. Customers waiting for agents block the self-serve kiosks. Finished passengers must push through the crowd again. Average check-in time: 25 to 30 minutes.
Down the hall at Alaska Airlines, employees roam a spacious hall, directing customers toward kiosks. Lines aren't more than three deep, and travelers are on their way to security in eight minutes or less. One woman pauses, looking confused, and another turns and says, "It's this new check-in thing. Don't worry, it's really fast."
Moving customers from frustration to relief--in a fraction of the time--has been at the root of Alaska Airlines' Airport of the Future project. The carrier has spent more than a decade designing a better way to get customers through airport check-in, debuting the first iteration in its Anchorage terminal in 2004. Last October, the $3.3 billion carrier began rolling out its redesign in Seattle, where Alaska and its sister airline, Horizon, have almost 50% market share. The project, to be completed in May, has already reduced wait times and increased agent productivity. "People come to the airport expecting to stand in line," says Ed White, Alaska's VP of corporate real estate, who ran the project. "It's an indictment of our industry."
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/123/hustle-and-flow.html
Via Signal vs. Noise.
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