The end of paper: Airline ticketing will soon be all-electronic worldwide

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) wants airlines to issue only electronic tickets by the end of 2007. Currently, 96 percent of tickets issued by U.S. carriers are electronic, while 77 percent of tickets issued globally are electronic, the IATA reports. The global airline trade organization, which supplies paper tickets to most carriers outside the U.S., plans to discontinue that service at the end of this year. While U.S., European and Chinese airlines have nearly eliminated paper tickets, some carriers in Africa and the Middle East still use them. Until all airlines that code-share abandon paper tickets, U.S. airlines must offer them as well.