Um, can we have some dates as to when each of these innovations came in? WWW bookings are about 2 or 3 years old on BA, e-tickets slightly younger.
e-tickets (and self-service check-in) were first introduced by BA, experimentally, on UK domestic routes in 1995 and have been gradually rolled out across the network since. A handful of routes still exist where e-ticketing is not possible, and itineraries where more than one carrier is used still mean a paper (or card) ticket must be issued. However, about 75% of paper tickets issued are completely unnecessary and could have been e-ticketed!
www.bookings were introduced in 1999.
FYI Mrs Bealine tells me that Continental Airlines plan to be 100% e-ticketed across its route network by January 2005!
However, I still remain cynical and think that, although there are cost-savings, airlines are losing a colossal amount through error, fraud and deception concerning e-tickets.