American Airlines to End Paper Tickets Next Year

American Airlines plans to stop issuing paper tickets by March for domestic trips and by December 2003 for all other trips.

Although most major airlines impose fees for issuing paper tickets, American appears to be the first to announce that it will eliminate such tickets. Starting last week, American also raised its paper-ticket fee from $10 to $20. “It’s costly to generate paper,” spokesman Todd Burke said. The fee is charged on routes on which e-tickets are available. Burke said about two-thirds of American’s tickets are electronic.