Skipping airport check-in
JetBlue deals with customers on multiple fronts -- in airports, online and on planes. So it started with the low-hanging fruit, the check-in process at the airport. “Our mission is to have a transitional airport experience vs. a transactional airport experience,” Sundaram says. “The first step in the process was to eliminate transactions or automate transactions that don’t add value to the customers.”
Using JetBlue’s Auto Check-In process, customers are automatically checked into their flight 24 hours before departing, assigned a seat based on previous preferences and sent a boarding pass – all without logging into a computer or the mobile app. Customers receive an email confirming the check-in. JetBlue has processed 700,000 auto check-ins since rolling out the service last year and is currently expanding it to more customers.
“When you think about it, check-in was such a 1960’s process where airlines had no clue when they sold paper tickets through agencies where the customer was and they forced you to come stand in a line and check you in,” Sundaram says. “Today, with the technology we have, we don’t need to check you in, so we eliminated the step and our customers love it.”