Case Study: Alaska Airlines achieves frictionless in-flight contactless payments with Stripe

Alaska Airlines takes contactless payments to the skies with Tap to Pay on iPhone

Alaska Airlines, known for early technology adoption, wanted to modernize in-flight payments and reduce friction for guests and flight attendants. The airline aimed to replace traditional magnetic card readers with a hardware-light, contactless solution that would improve the day-of-travel experience and support faster, more self-service payment options.

Stripe helped Alaska Airlines implement Tap to Pay on iPhone using the Stripe Terminal SDK, integrating contactless payments directly into its logistics app. After a pilot with 300 flight attendants, Alaska Airlines began rolling out the solution to more than 7,000 U.S. flight attendants, enabling payments via contactless cards, Apple Pay, and digital wallets without extra hardware. This streamlined transaction management, sped up deployment, and gave flight attendants more time to focus on customer service.

Alaska Airlines

Bernadette Berger

Director of Innovation