Before the COVID pandemic crippled air travel for an extended period, companies such as At Your Gate, Grab and OTG (the company that introduced iPad ordering at airports many years ago) offered gate-delivery of food, drink and travel essentials to your seat.
The idea seemed ideal for airports where people are apt to head straight for their gate, grab a seat and stay there.
For gate delivery, all you needed to do was open an app on you phone, place an order with one of the participating airport outlets and a runner would pick up the order and bring it to you at your seat.
At one point At Your Gate even had a robot that would do the deliveries. And in some airports, passengers could order food and pick it up at a central spot on a concourse.
Today, order ahead for pick-up is common at many airport restaurants and it can really be a time saver.
Re-upping a good idea: United testing gate delivery at Newark Liberty Airport
The At Your Gate delivery service faded out completely after the pandemic receded.
But now United Airlines is going to give it a go.
The airline just announced that it is testing a ‘new’ service on select flights departing or connecting through nine gates in Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
With this service, passengers can use the United app to pre-order food, drinks and other travel essentials and have it waiting for them at the gate.
Here’s how United’s gate delivery service will work:
Eligible passengers will be notified via the United app or email of the option to order from a selection of sandwiches, salads, drinks, kids meals, chips, candy and travel essentials.
Passengers who complete an order will find their items on a pickup shelf near their gate before their flight.
More details on the program
The test service is a partnership with OTG and is available on select flights departing from or connecting through designated gates in Terminal C (C125-C138).
The pilot is scheduled to expand to Houston later this year and if feedback is good, United plans to add the service into its seatback inflight entertainment screens.
We can think of lots of travel situations where gate delivery would be ideal, so we’re hoping United’s test project works out and airport gate delivery is on its way back in a bigger way.
