OTG Trades iPads for Mobile Ordering at Airport Eateries

Airport hospitality firm OTG Management is changing the way its customers order their meals.

The company has begun phasing out the iPads used for orders at airports across the country in favor of mobile ordering options, Bloomberg News reported Monday (Aug. 14). The system will let users scan a QR code to access menus from eateries around airport terminals.

The tool, dubbed flo Xgen, is “effectively combatting one of the biggest pain points in the hospitality business: wait times,” the company said in a fact sheet provided to PYMNTS.

According to OTG, the average wait time from when a customer sits down in a restaurant until their order reaches the
kitchen via flo Xgen was three minutes and 38 seconds, while 55 seconds is the average time it takes to close out a check and pay.

The company also plans to give travelers the option to pre-order meals up to 24 hours in advance, beginning next month at Newark Airport.

Rick Blatstein, OTG’s chief executive, told Bloomberg this feature will be particularly useful for users in a hurry to catch their flights. He added that his company would have embraced mobile ordering naturally, but the pandemic sped the process along. The CEO also said he’s excited about the chance to offer gate-side delivery.

“I travel for a living and still go into an airport and find out where my gate is, first thing,” Blatstein said, pointing out the number of travelers who prioritize getting a seat near their boarding counter as soon as they’ve passed security. 

For these customers, getting up to pick up a meal means risking their spot or missing an announcement, he said.

OTG’s embrace of mobile ordering is part of a broader trend in the food service space, which was forced to adopt digital tools to survive the pandemic.

“Once laggards when it came to modernization, restaurants now use technology more than ever,” PYMNTS wrote in June, noting research that found that a respective 55% and 50% of all restaurants have implemented curbside pickup and mobile order-ahead.

In the face of a challenging economic environment, restaurants are planning even more technological implementations, with one 2022 survey showing that 75% of restaurant operators plan to adopt new technology to address labor and cost challenges. 

All the same, while restaurants have already undertaken a lot of innovations, consumers still want more. To combat mounting wait times and deteriorating service, 70% of consumers showed interest in integrating technological aids at the drive-thru, such as AI voice assistants, personalized menus and smartphone apps.

That isn’t to say diners are ready to cede the entire restaurant experience to robots just yet. Just 17% and 18% of consumers, for example, enjoy using QR codes and kiosks, respectively, instead of menus and counters. 

“While younger consumers are the most interested in these digital tools, nearly 60% still enjoy the traditional experience of interacting with a waiter,” PYMNTS wrote last month. 

“The takeaway for restaurants is that there is no longer a single dining experience, and the best course of action is to have a smorgasbord of both digital and traditional options available, from which consumers may take their pick,” PYMNTS said.