Some main US airport terminals like JFK now have choices for ordering meals for supply to your gate, Bloomberg reports. That is made attainable by airport meals administration firm OTG, which is planning to shed the 21,000 iPads it manages for its bars, eating places, and quick meals choices throughout numerous terminals and as a substitute invite hungry vacationers to order meals on the gadgets they already carry. Vacationers can scan QR codes at venues, choose the meals they need, pay on their gadget utilizing choices like Apple Pay and bank cards, and get it delivered to the gate they’re strolling towards.
The options are much like ordering apps like Uber Eats and Grubhub, however OTG isn’t going to mandate one other app for folks to obtain. As a substitute, QR codes scattered at venues will join customers to ordering pages for the specified meals. In line with rollout particulars despatched to The Verge, OTG’s in-house “Flo” ordering system that centralizes all orders to one website is coming subsequent month. Order-ahead choices are additionally coming in September, which is able to let vacationers order objects like iced lattes for pickup at espresso retailers at their vacation spot airport from a mile within the sky.
Working a web site and again finish for orders and printing a bunch of QR codes may simplify issues for OTG when in comparison with working iPad kiosks. The corporate may additionally get monetary savings on on-site upkeep, set up, iPad upgrades, cellular gadget administration subscriptions, safety prices, and extra. Though, fewer ordering choices could inconvenience some clients, particularly those that’d choose to faucet devoted screens close to the place they will scent the delicacies they crave.
OTG at the moment manages meals choices at 350 venues and 23 terminals at airports together with JFK, Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty, LaGuardia, and the Philadelphia Worldwide Airport. Newark’s airport will get the primary order-ahead choices come September, and by November, preorder options will increase to extra airports. Personally, I’m nonetheless holding out for the terminal delivery robots obtainable at Incheon Airport in South Korea to come back to an airport close to me.