”I`d like a jumbo hot dog and a beer, please.”
”Right you are, sir. That`ll be $6.25, with tax.”
”No, perhaps you didn`t understand. I want just one hot dog and one bottle of beer.”
”Right. One jumbo dog, one beer. $6.25”
Sound familiar? It might, if you`ve ever stood in line at a concession stand in an airport concourse. And, it doesn`t really matter which airport it is (although the tab above is one you`d get at Philadelphia International)
– prices for quick snacks and drinks at airport walk-up counters don`t vary a great deal across the country. They`re all high. And, they`ve always been high.
But that may be changing. In some airports, where national fast-food franchise operations have opened concourse outlets, it already has changed. But, more on this later. Let`s look at the situation today.
The reasons travelers are faced with paying upward of $3 for a large hot dog and nearly $4 for a beer at many airports are many and varied. But, in essence, they can be distilled to two rather obvious facts:
– Travelers waiting in airports for their flights constitute what could only be termed a captive market.
– Concession stands at airports are profit centers.
I told you these facts were obvious. As far as the first is concerned, it`s clear that, if you`re waiting for your flight and feel the urge for something to eat or drink, you have only one choice: whatever is available in the terminal concourse.
The second fact is a little more complicated, but no less obvious. Most airport concession stands are operated by large contractors – such as Dobbs House (Greyhound Corp.), Host International (Marriott Corp.) or ARA Services- who bid for the rights to sell their food to the captive audience.
And who grants those rights? The operator of the airport, typically a city, county, regional authority or some other governmental body. And, that operator considers the concession stands a source of revenue (or profit) every bit as much as the concessionaires do.
In fact, it is often the demands of the airport operators for greater revenue that drive up the prices of food and drinks. To the wholesale cost of the products they sell, concessionaires must add labor costs, energy costs, lease costs and a variety of other overhead items to arrive at their cost of delivering a hot dog or cup of coffee. To that they add their profit and the cut of the gross sales to arrive at your cost.
And, since most airport operators are not content with getting a nickel for every cup of coffee or a dime for every hot dog sold, your cost for an item is going to be much higher than it would be almost anywhere outside the airport.
An informal survey I conducted this month of the prices of four food and drink items at some of the nation`s major airports showed that, with two exceptions – Detroit and Philadelphia – those prices were remarkably similar. In the case of Philadelphia, the prices were almost 40 percent higher than those at the airport with the lowest prices – Boston.
For purposes of comparison in my informal survey, I chose items readily available at most airport concession stands: a jumbo hot dog, with and without a topping (sauerkraut, chili or cheese); a bottle of domestic beer; a 16-ounce soft drink, and a small cup of coffee.
Following, ranked from highest to lowest total price for the items, are the airports surveyed and the prices charged for each item (taxes are not included):
Detroit Metropolitan Airport – Hot dog: $2.75 (topping, 50 cents). Beer:
$3.90. Soft drink: $1.35. Coffee: $1.10. Total: $9.60.
Philadelphia International Airport – Hot dog: $2.65 (topping, 50 cents). Beer: $3.25. Soft drink: $1.50. Coffee $1.15. Total: $9.05.
Miami International Airport – Hot dog: $2.65 (topping, 52 cents). Beer:
$2.59. Soft drink: $1.19. Coffee: 84 cents. Total: $7.79.
Stapleton International Airport (Denver) – Hot dog: $2.50 (topping, 35 cents). Beer: $3. Soft drink: $1.15. Coffee: 75 cents. Total: $7.75
O`Hare International Airport (Chicago) – Hot dog: $2.50 (topping, 50 cents). Beer: $2.80. Soft drink: $1. Coffee: 79 cents. Total: $7.59.
Los Angeles International Airport – Hot dog: $2 (topping included). Beer: $3.05. Soft drink: $1.20. Coffee: 99 cents. Total: $7.24.
Logan International Airport (Boston) – Hot dog: $2.15 (topping included). Beer: $2.25. Soft drink: $1.25. Coffee: 85 cents. Total: $6.50.
If those prices aren`t enough to curb your appetite, you`re one hungry traveler – or a traveler on a liberal expense account. Still, even for many folks who are spending ”company money,” the thought of paying $3 or more for a chili dog, even if it is a ”jumbo” that weighs in at a quarter pound
(precooked weight, of course), is unconscionable.
And for those penurious business travelers, and the rest of us who are paying for airport food out of the family budget, relief may be on the way. It comes in several forms, but the most obvious is the increasing presence of national fast-food chains – McDonald`s, Burger King, Pizza Hut and others – in the concourses of our nation`s airports.
And for my money (pun intended) they are a welcome new player in the concession game.
It`s not that their food is better; it`s simply that, on average, it`s cheaper than what is available at airports. And, it is likely to remain that way, since it would be difficult for most of these chains to advertise prices for their latest burger or chicken offering and then put a qualifying asterisk in the ad noting, ”Except at the airport.”
How a McDonald`s or Burger King or Pizza Hut can gain entree to an airport concourse and maintain the prices it charges at its other locations is something locked deep in the files of contract negotiations. It is, I think, sufficient to say that the chains` competition – and competitive prices – is a harbinger of good things to come for the air traveler.
At Los Angeles International Airport, for example, Pizza Hut already has one outlet operating. But, over the next several months, according to airport spokesman Tom Winfrey, Burger King, Dunkin` Donuts and TCBY (The Country`s Best Yogurt) will be opening outlets.
Miami International Airport welcomed a Burger King outlet to its concourse six weeks ago and has another Burger King available to airport workers (the folks who handle baggage, refueling and other services for aircraft) on the ramp level.
Newark International Airport already has McDonald`s, Nathan`s and several other national or regional franchisers in its Terminal C, with plans for expansion of such outlets.
And, within the next month, Detroit Metropolitan Airport will welcome Burger King and Little Caesars (a popular pizza chain). –
