Reminder: The age of the paper statement is coming to an end.

Beginning in September, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members will only receive paper statements on a quarterly cycle. The only way to get a monthly statement is to subscribe online to “E-Statements.” Go to http://www.alaskaair.com, access your “MyAlaskaAir” account, and check the “E-statement” box to get started.

As far as we know, Alaska is one of the first programs to begin moving toward online-only account statements. Many other airlines offer and encourage the practice to cut costs (have to find a way to fund the pilots’ yearly vacations to Cancun, after all), but none have been quite as bold.

By itself, this little news item might not garner too much interest, were it not for the fact that Mileage Plan has, from the beginning, been the trailblazer for e-commerce in the industry. After all, these are the folks who invented online booking.