Your phone is smarter than the terminal. Isn’t it time airports caught up? That question shaped a recent conversation between Ink CEO Shawn Richards and BAGTAG’s Jasper Quak on The Bagfather podcast.
As airports face rising passenger numbers and higher expectations, Shawn and Jasper explored why the industry still relies on infrastructure that passengers may no longer need.
“Why would you need terminal equipment when everyone has a supercomputer in their pocket?” — Jasper Quak.
Passengers are already checking in on their phones. So why stop there? From bag tagging to ID verification, smartphones can now handle much of what once required kiosks and dedicated airport hardware.
That’s the thinking behind Zero, Ink’s lightweight approach to airport design. At Passenger Terminal Expo earlier this year, the Ink team showcased a setup with only a few essential devices—no full-size kiosks or tagging stations in sight.
“Visitors expected a wall of hardware. Instead, we showed them they didn’t need most of it.” — Shawn Richards.
With BAGTAG’s digital bag tag solution, Ink’s platform reduces single-use materials, lowers operating costs, and simplifies the process for passengers, especially frequent flyers and families who value speed and predictability.
But simplicity alone isn’t enough. The real key, they argue, is making innovation easy to adopt.
“You won’t scale to 100 overnight. But if it’s easy to try, people start to move.” — Jasper Quak.
The partnership between Ink and BAGTAG helps airlines and airports test new passenger flows in weeks—not months—by reducing the need for costly system overhauls. It's not about disruption for its own sake; it's about building more innovative, lighter processes that work now.
“Reducing paper tags, preventing bag loss, saving minutes at scale—this isn’t future thinking. It’s ready to change now.” — Shawn Richards.
Listen to the full podcast.
