Airlines let passengers check own bags

TORONTO, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Air Canada has launched a pilot project that allows passengers to tag and check their own luggage after using an electronic check-in kiosk.

Montie Brewer, Air Canada's chief executive officer, said "self-tagging" saves both the traveler and the airline time by automating luggage check-in the same way e-tickets allowed passengers to avoid lines by printing boarding passes.

The trial project began in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. If Transport Canada gives its blessing, "self-tagging" will be an option at airports in Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax by year's end.

"It's still in the test phase but the whole objective is to have choice for the consumer," Brewer told the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Self-tagged bags are dropped off and placed on a conveyor belt where they are X-rayed and screened.

WestJet Airlines Ltd., Canada's second-largest air carrier, began a tag-it-yourself baggage program in June.