Delta's isle flights join ticketless-travel trend

All the top U.S. carriers now include Hawaii in the paperless practice

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Delta Air Lines today extended its electronic ticketing to flights in and out of Hawaii. Now all the major carriers serving Hawaii from the mainland have ticketless travel available in both directions.

The others included Hawaii when they went national with the system last fall.

Delta said passengers who have paid for their tickets by any acceptable method, such as cash at a Delta desk or by credit card in an office or over the telephone, can just present identification when they check in for their flights.

Airport ticket counters, flight information counters, frequent-flyer club rooms and even the podiums at the jetway will be able to approve boarding, Delta said.

Passengers no longer need tickets and therefore no longer risk difficulties if they lose them and don't have to go through complex paperwork to make changes as they travel, the airline said.

United Airlines has had the ticketless option available to Hawaii and the rest of its domestic system since September, said spokesman Tony Molinaro. No confirmation number is needed. "You just show up at the airport and give an ID," Molinaro said.

Tim Smith, an American Airlines spokesman, said its entire domestic system and parts of the Caribbean have had the ticketless option since September.

"It's been well received by our customers, particularly frequent business travelers, and the usage of electronic ticketing at American continues to increase," he said. Smith said that, like Delta and others, American will fax or mail an itinerary to the customer.

Some airlines allow electronic bookings through travel agents and Delta said it is working toward that goal.

Northwest Airlines said it allows it on the Internet as well. "People can get ticketed through travel agents and direct with us. They can do it on the Internet or through our '800' number," said a Northwest spokeswoman, Marta Laughlin.

Meanwhile, Continental Airlines' electronic ticketing is available in all 50 states but not yet for Continental Micronesia flights. Like the other airlines, Continental is working toward international ticketless travel.

Trans World Airlines' Don Walker said TWA also includes Hawaii in its system and expects to have international ticketless travel by the end of this year.

Hawaii's interisland airlines said electronic ticketing has been discussed but so far it doesn't suit their operations. Since "interlining" - where tickets issued by one airline can be used on another with the resulting payments cleared through a central computer service - is not yet available for ticketless travel, mainland travelers booked on interisland carriers still need tickets for those segments, the airlines said.