A evolução das passagens aéreas no Brasil: do recibo ao reconhecimento facial

Abstract

To enable a customer to board an airline aircraft, there is, for sure, a prior process of acquiring and presenting the airline ticket. As different technologies were incorporated into this process, airline tickets were also transformed. Based on this brief observation, this research aims to present the evolution of airline tickets over the decades, considering the technologies that have been used to transform the process as a whole. In order to achieve this objective, a qualitative and basic methodology was chosen, considering that it is a descriptive research, with bibliographic and documental procedures. From the method adopted, it was possible to verify that, since the first airline – which used seaplanes at the time (1914), St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line –, the company manager already organized the ticket sales process, stipulating the amount to be charged, flight times and special flight conditions. It should be added that the first air ticket was auctioned in 1914 at a cost of US$ 400.00 (or US$ 11,920.48 today). Throughout the history of airline tickets, they were printed and filled out manually (1920s to 1950s): part of the ticket (receipt) was kept by the customer, and another was handed over to the pilot (late 1920s). It was also observed that the ticket reservation process, especially in the 1940s and 1950s, was archaic, confusing and time-consuming. The airlines had a giant panel on which an operator would assemble all the orders that arrived, until there were no new orders. But, at the end of the 1950s, computers modified this system, making it faster. The pioneer in this use was American Airlines, which initially adopted punch cards and then used the huge IBM computer. Certainly, computers (end of the 1950s) and the internet allowed for significant changes in the process of selling and issuing airline tickets: filling in was no longer manual and became digital; there was an increase in bar codes; applications on smartphones were created to issue e-tickets, even visualized through QR Codes, until recognition by facial biometrics was recently created. In addition, the online service of airlines and travel agencies has been consolidated over time, providing more convenience and comfort to the customer. It is concluded that all these transformations have brought companies and customers agility, practicality and security in issuing air tickets. In order to confirm the relevance of these transformations, field research is suggested which, in the end, proposes encouraging the use of e-tickets or biometric facial recognition, replacing the physical ticket.