Anyone connecting through a large airport knows how quickly the time between flights can shrink. After a delayed arrival, a long terminal walk, or a tight connection, reaching the gate can leave little time to buy food before boarding begins. United Airlines is now testing a service at Newark Liberty International Airport designed around that problem.
Since September 2, passengers on select United flights departing from or connecting through Terminal C can order food, drinks, and travel essentials in advance through the United mobile app and pick them up from a designated shelf at the gate. The service is available on select flights departing from up to nine designated gates between C125 and C138, according to United Airlines. Customers receive a pre-departure push notification through the app or an email when the service is available for their flight.
How United’s Newark Airport Food Delivery Pilot Works
Passengers who receive access to the service can choose from sandwiches, salads, drinks, kids’ meals, chips, candy, and other food items. United also includes select over-the-counter medicine, travel pillows, and charging cords among the travel essentials available to order. Once an order is ready, staff place the items on a designated pickup shelf at the gate, where passengers can collect them to eat there or bring on board their flight.
The designated Terminal C gates serve both domestic and international departures and handle narrowbody and widebody aircraft. United is working with airport hospitality company OTG to support the preparation and delivery of meals from participating airport restaurants. The airline specifically names Nonna’s Kitchen and Victory Grill as participating businesses in the Newark pilot.
At Newark, customers retrieve their purchases from the pickup shelf rather than having an employee bring the order directly to them. United describes the program as food delivery to the gate, while its instructions specify that the items wait for customers at the designated shelf. The planned Houston version will add direct gate delivery as an option.
“We focus on where the travel experience can be simpler for customers and innovating to remove friction along the way,” United Chief Customer Officer David Kinzelman said in the airline’s announcement. Kinzelman also said Newark is a high-volume connecting hub where customers often have limited time between reaching their gate and boarding, which led United to select the airport for the pilot.
United Plans To Expand The Airport Food Service To Houston
United plans to expand the pilot to Houston later in 2026. USA Today identifies the next location as George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The Houston version will feature popular national restaurant brands and give customers more flexibility in how they receive an order, United said. Passengers can pick up their food or have it delivered directly to their gate.
The airline says it will collect customer feedback throughout the pilot to gauge interest in the service and help determine whether to expand to other airports. United has not announced which airports could follow Newark and Houston or provided a schedule for a wider rollout.
United has also outlined another feature it could add if the program expands. The airline says it plans to integrate the ordering service into its seatback in-flight entertainment screens. United has not announced when that integration would begin. For now, the Newark program remains limited to select flights using the designated Terminal C gates. The current test centers on advance ordering through the United app and gate-side pickup, while Houston is expected to add the option of direct delivery to the gate.
