Uber Technologies Inc. announced a new partnership with the Tampa International Airport (TPA) this month. Bringing mobile ordering to more than 23 million travelers and airport workers, the app will provide a seamless approach to shopping and dining.
“We wanted to look at ways that we could improve that experience and better serve our customers,” says Josh Gillin, senior manager of communications for Tampa International Airport.
This service allows guests inside the airport to order food and other convenient goods ahead of time and skip the line at more than 20 different concession stand locations throughout the airport. (No alcoholic beverages are available for purchase.)
This is Uber’s first airport partnership in the United States, formerly testing its operations at the Toronto Pearson Airport in Canada and launching two pilot programs at the John Glenn International Airport in Columbus, Ohio; and the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
Though it is TPA’s first experience working with Uber Eats, this is not the airport’s first rodeo with mobile ordering. Rolling out a similar concept in 2021, TPA to Go, the facility was able to provide comparable services through a different vendor for their visitors. Now partnering with Uber Eats and its app, TPA is using a platform that is more familiar to visitors and has less kinks. One of the major changes they made to the app’s services include eliminating the delivery option because it was the most underused function—primarily due to the design of the airport terminals and the security check points that come along with it.
“The pickup option was by far the most popular among our passengers,” Gillin adds.
Visitors can access the app by downloading it to their device or they can scan one of the various QR codes scattered throughout the airport. Once they create an account, they will have access to the options based on their location in the airport terminals.
