Ordered on iPads, meals are delivered to the gate at NY airports

We’ve seen all kinds of airport innovations designed to make travelling less of a chore, but Delta Air Lines and airport restaurant operator OTG Management have just launched an initiative sure to please weary passengers at New York’s JFK and LaGuardia airports. Specifically, travellers can use Apple iPad kiosks stationed near their departure gates to order meals from participating airport restaurants, with delivery to the gate guaranteed within 10 minutes. As of just a few weeks ago, the new food ordering stations have been installed at gates 21 and 22 in JFK Terminal 2 and at gate 15 in JFK Terminal 3; stations are planned for gates 1 and 2 of LaGuardia’s Terminal D later this year. Upon placing their order using a custom iPad application, customers are informed of their meal delivery time to ensure the food is received before their flight takes off, though it can also be taken to go; either way, orders are delivered by OTG servers within 10 minutes. Also available on the iPads are reportedly a variety of other applications that let travellers check flights and play games, for example. The newly designed gate dining areas, meanwhile, accommodate both single and group travelers, and most seats are outfitted with power outlets for charging electronics. The new initiative is part of a series of investments Delta is making in the New York market, including a recently announced USD 1.2 billion plan to enhance and expand JFK Terminal 4. Security regulations have taken such a toll on passenger convenience at airports today, it’s nice to see an airline doing something to make up for it. This one needs to be emulated as soon as possible at airports around the globe! (Related: Free spray tans at Gatwick Airport — Portland airport installs bike assembly station for travellers — Singapore airport’s four-storey slide rewards duty-free spending — De Botton’s airport diary launched at Heathrow today — Heineken offers first class airport lounge for all — Free dance lessons at Paris airports — Suitcases & pad thai.) Spotted by: airlinetrends.com and Justin Blatstein