Northwest, Continental, Delta, American, US Airways and United all have at least a few kiosks. In the beginning, he said, there were employee-training problems, but now the advantages of not having to present a physical item are clear. Paper tickets will continue to exist, said Jim M. FitzGerald, director of enterprise projects at American Airlines, even if as a very small percentage. If they want paper, they have that right. Online ticket agencies like Expedia and Hotwire rely heavily on electronic tickets, because customers can print out their own data.
Traditional agencies sell it the way customers want.
Victor J. Fernandez, vice president for operations at Liberty Travel, said 31.6 percent of the agency's tickets were electronic. It took a while to get going and it has been widely embraced, but everybody hasn't caught on yet. There will always be people who won't want it.