Record levels of flight delays are delivering a bigger captive audience than ever to airport entrepreneurs. Delays at Pittsburgh International Airport, for example, drove up sales at its more than 100 shops and restaurants 25 percent for the week ending June 18. This resulted in record total receipts of more than $2 million. Businesses profiting from the long waits include not only retail shops, but also activities that offer frustrated travelers relief from stress and boredom, such as these:
• The 24-Hour Fitness center at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas provides a workout for $15.
• The golf course at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport rents clubs to delayed passengers, as does the course down the road from the new Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, in Austin, Texas.
• Touch N Go, a massage store at Pittsburgh International Airport, is “swamped” when flights are delayed, reports a licensed massage therapist who works at the shop.
• InMotion Pictures rents digital video-disk players and movies to travelers with time to kill, via its kiosks at seven U.S. airports.