The humble paper boarding pass
The paper boarding pass has existed for the best part of 50 years. Originally conceived as a re-usable laminated docket that was returned at the end of flight, today it is is issued for almost every passenger that gets on a plane. Lately, with the rise of digital apps and online check-in, the use of paper boarding passes are decreasing, but they will definitely be here to stay for another decade or 2. I have spent a solid amount of my career working on Departure Experiences for airlines and airports around the world, and one thing that continues to bug me is how disparate boarding passes are across airlines, even though the aviation business has some of the most exacting industry standards in the world, and in-fact, the boarding pass itself has exacting standards right down to the curvature and thickness of the paper.
Why change it now?
A product management philosophy I always bring to the table is that whatever we touch today, if it improves what we did yesterday, is good for the world. Sure, airlines have boarding passes that work. But most can’t say it works well. In an alliance environment where the alliance is trying to put their brand first, and airlines are trying to create seamless passenger journeys, having disparate boarding passes across each member airline creates confusion for passengers, let alone passengers flying on interline, codeshare, and joint venture routes.
By creating a single, standardized boarding pass for an alliance, while retaining the flair of the operating or marketing airline, we are able to bring the best of both worlds — a consistent, standardized, alliance experience, while retaining the brand loyalty to the original airline the passenger starts or buys their journey with.
Where designers go wrong
There are plenty of great boarding pass designs on the internet. This is great to see and many of these would work much better than what I propose from a customer experience perspective. The problem for all of these designs is industry standards. Aviation is heavily regulated, and given the nature of the business, has a lot of historical decisions that influence and restrict systems today. Some examples of these constraints in the context of boarding passes:
- Thermal printers: Colors don’t work for boarding passes. Almost all passes are printed on thermal printers using black ink. It’s also far more economical given the volume that’s produced.
- PECTAB: The industry uses proprietary standards called PECTAB, which requires a specific resolution, and placement of passes in specific areas. This means you can’t have complicated graphic designs or other such artefacts.
- Space restrictions: We have limited space to work with, with specific margins of error, so boarding passes that are not the same size as an IBM punchcard, 7⅜ by 3¼ inches (187.325 mm × 82.55 mm), cannot scale across all the airports that use them.
Why Star Alliance?
This one’s personal — I have a special relationship with Star Alliance. They were the first airline alliance I ever flew on, and being a person that lives in New Zealand, with family in India, friends in Singapore, and work in the United States, I have spent the better half of a decade exclusively flying with Air New Zealand, Air India, Singapore Airlines, and United Airlines. Hitting Star Alliance Gold for the first time at the age of 24 was a memorable day! If you’re reading this Star Alliance, this one’s for you!
Meet the redesigned boarding pass
My Star Alliance boarding pass is designed to offer standardization to the alliance while ensuring each member airline is able to adapt it to their needs. Let me walk you through it.
- Star Alliance Ribbon: The defining characteristic of this boarding pass is the star alliance logo-type on black block. This is designed to work on plain white boarding passes, or configurable to work on pre-printed ones too. The intent here is to signify the boarding pass and airline relationship to Star Alliance prominently.
- Status Badge: Immediately next to the logo-type is the traveller’s Star Alliance Status (Silver / Gold) which offers easy recognition through their journey.
- Airline Logo: To respect the member carrier, their logo features prominently in the lower part of the boarding pass next to the status, so it’s clear which airline is the operating or marketing carrier.
- Name and Class: A people friendly name (and not the MR/JANA/ era) is present at the top, in lock with the traveler’s booking class. A nice touch.
- Date/Flight/Destination: Most travelers know what day it is, where they’re going, and an idea of their flight number. This is featured in a less highlighted row, but more visible than operational information. The destination features a from in short-text, and the destination in full name, to emphasize the passenger’s destination over their departure point.
- Time / Gate / Group / Seat: The prominent slice within the boarding pass is this group of important information. We want to easily convey the steps at the airport in an orderly way. First the traveler needs to know when they’re flying (the time of boarding, not departure). They then need to know where they should be for this (The terminal & gate), when they’ll be boarding (group), and where their seat is once they’re onboard.
- Operational text: Important operational information such as their bag numbers, remarks, FQTV (Frequent traveler ID) and ETKT (E-Ticketing details) are listed directly below in small font that’s necessary, but not generally needed for the passenger to complete their airport journey.
- Airline Reference and SEQ: The airline reference and sequence number is an easy way for gate agents to make changes to a passenger’s booking in their Passenger Service or Departure Control System. Having these above the barcode makes it easier for gate agents to process passengers.
- Carrier Customization: The stub of the boarding pass has been intentionally left blank to allow for airlines to customize this to their operational needs. Every airline will have their own content to provide, such as a TSA Pre or airport express label, or important carrier or airport specific details. This lets Star Alliance offer a standardized boarding pass while allowing for great customization.
Thoughts
Having flown more than 190,000kms a year, primarily with one alliance, having boarding passes like this would add a small but noticeable touch to the alliance brand and make the journey that small bit more delightful. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below or flick me a message!
