Alaska Airlines says it is removing check-in kiosks at its hub airports on the West Coast: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Anchorage.
The machines will be replaced by bag tag stations with iPad tablets. Most airports will transition to the new bag tag stations by the end of 2023, the airline said.
Customer service agents will be available to check in customers, but Alaska is encouraging them to use the Alaska Airlines app to check in and secure a boarding pass before coming to the airport.
The bag tag stations are part of a three-year investment in the airport experience totaling $2.5 billion. Alaska's goal is to get customers through the lobby and to security in 5 minutes or less. Airports have already begun changing to the new tablets.
Beginning in spring 2024, the lobbies in Alaska's hub airports will have technology that will enable flyers to drop off their bags with just a few quick scans. The machine will scan a customer's face, government-issued I.D. and bags. From there, it will take bags on a belt to be loaded onto the aircraft.