There's an interesting tid-bit from the June edition of Hemispheres --
We've listened to what our customers want, and we are installing technology at our airports to speed you through. For example, at our hub in Houston, customers can quickly and easily tag their own bags for check-in instead of having to wait in line for an agent to do it, and we have introduced rapid self-boarding at some of our gates, allowing you to stand in line less and board our aircraft more quickly.
Anyone experience this (besides the old PMCO ones at IAH)? Have pics?
The rest of the text (unrelated) is interesting as well:
We also recently opened a new customer service center located in the C concourse of Terminal 1 at our Chicago O’Hare hub. At this new center, customers can use self-service kiosks to control their travel, from flight rebooking to seat upgrades. If a customer wants to see an agent and there is a wait, we have introduced “intelligent queuing,” which provides an estimate of how long the wait will be, with real-time text or e-mail updates when an agent is ready to serve the customer. That way, our customers can relax, grab a bite to eat or shop while they wait. We are working on further rollout of these time-saving and hassle-reducing features at additional airports later this year and into next year.