US Patent 7086591 Airport check-in system and method

An improved airport check-in system includes a central conveyor and a plurality of outwardly-extending conveyors. Airline agents operate workstations adjacent the outwardly extending conveyors, which are accessible by passengers so that passengers can deposit their own bags directly onto the conveyors. A number of electronic kiosks are provided to obtain boarding passes having encoded passenger information. Check-in is accomplished in two steps, including first obtaining a boarding pass and then proceeding to a baggage check station to check bags. At the baggage check station, the boarding pass is scanned to quickly retrieve key information that would otherwise have been gathered verbally, hastening the check-in process.