This is the equivalent of a "Do you guys not have phones??"[1] but on a way larger scale.
At least where i live i am able to use the bare minimum of phones, even working with tech. The friction is increasing though, which worries me a lot, and day after day there is a new attempt to shove it down your throat if you want to be considered a member of society. Seeing that a lot of countries (including mine) are pushing for age verification, and the whole thing about Android blocking 'sideload', by the end of 2026 you won't be considered a human being without a government certified smartphone.
https://www.msn.com/en-ie/travel/news/ryanair-s-new-check-in...
Also, I'm not too worried about the airport usecase as we're already being tracked and surveilled and inspected there as much as possible.
But it's another step to normalize and mandate phone and app use. The puzzle pieces are falling in place. Soon, AI could screen-capture your phone screen to detect suspicious activity, and track every tap you do, also taking pictures with the front-facing camera without you knowing, listening on the mic, etc. etc., connecting it all to your real identity. Because why not? If it's done step by step, nobody will care at all. Maybe that sounds pessimistic, but it looks like the end game and I see no principled political stance against it, nor any insurmountable technical hurdles.
That's an insinuation with some vague truth to it, but not much. Budget airlines are not government departments, and competition between them isn't phony.
"The sky is blue" "I feel that it is increasingly yellow"
The former happening would make so many things easier.