Originally Posted by
Often1
The problem isn't segmenting below CK's, it is about having enough kiosks and people to handle the load. At a small station, if there are two counter agents and both are tied up with a complex mess, there really isn't much to be done. But, at major stations, AA has a good experiential idea of how many people it needs to keep the line moving. It is simply a matter of staffing.
It seems fairly deliberate to me. At my mid-sized outstation they lately staff the priority lane with
one agent no matter how many people are in line. It's at the point where if there's anyone in line it's usually faster to check in on the kiosk and then wait in the bag drop line (which moves quickly because they have 5-6 agents working). It's pretty clear they
really want you to use the kiosk.
I don't mind the kiosks terribly, I just wish there was a way to skip the game of 20 questions (do you have a lap child? are you checking sports equipment? are you a member of the military? would you like to buy extra miles?). It would be great to have something similar to the GE kiosk where there's a button you can press that says "No to all". It takes me 2-3 minutes to get through all those, I can only imagine how long it takes someone who isn't familiar with the process.