Running an airport restaurant is profitable, but it sounds nearly impossible
Take it easy on the weary workers behind the counter of the last airport eatery open the next time your flight is delayed. At Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, vendors are required to stay open past closing time when the final departing flights of the day are running behind schedule. This often means that workers don't get to go home for the day until you're buckling your seatbelt and preparing for liftoff, no matter how many hours they've already clocked in.
Pierre Panos of Fresh to Order fame dishes on the unique challenges, and lucrative rewards, of running an airport restaurant in this week's Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I'm a restaurateur myself (I operate two spots in New Orleans!), but Panos' list of hurdles surprised and stressed even me. Here's peek at what it takes to operate a restaurant in the airport:
Tethered knives. Airport restaurants are required to keep all knives tied to their workstations. Commercial kitchens are already a real life game of Tetris, where gravity has been suspended, and many of the pieces around you are on fire. Line cooks spend nearly every second of their day not just preparing food, but announcing their every movement to the room: "Behind!" "Hot pot coming through!" "Door opening!" The idea of tying down the knives in these conditions gives me a minor panic attack.
No gas allowed. Panos explains that many airport concourses don't offer gas lines to their tenants. Imagine running a burger shack without a grill, a barbecue joint without a smoker or a pizza parlor without a real oven. Airport restaurants need to get creative when creating grill marks, infusing flavor and properly cooking foods.
No employee parking. There's no employee parking lot at many of our nation's airports, leaving workers with a difficult decision to make between paying exorbitant rates each day in the passenger parking garage, or taking public transportation to work. The latter option may save them some cash, but...
Workers leave when the final flights leave. As I mentioned earlier, many airport restaurants require their eateries to remain open when late-night flights are delayed, so that passengers are not left without any sustenance. City trains and buses, however, are not required to pick the restaurant workers up after their shifts. Workers planning on swiping their bus passes at the end of the day may end up taking pricey taxis home instead. These extra financial burdens can be difficult for employees to absorb because...
Prices are fixed. Airports like ATL prevent vendors from charging more than 10% of the "street price" they would set prices at stores outside of the airport. This is tricky, however: airport rents can be high because of the foot traffic they guarantee, and the cost of doing business is generally much higher than in a typical restaurant. Vendors supplying restaurants with proteins, produce or even cooking supplies pay higher insurance premiums to be able to drive onto the airport's loading docks, and deliveries can be made only at night.
Many a shift at my own restaurants has involved running out to pick up an emergency case of vegetables or pounds and pounds of pork belly to replenish an 86'd item on the menu. That type of kitchen triage isn't permitted for airport restaurants. Heck, you aren't allowed to bring a 5 oz. bottle of saline solution through security, let alone a case of milk. All of this keeps wages tied to the cost of doing business, instead of increasing pay for workers. There are exceptions of course, but many airport restaurant workers earn close to minimum wage.
Commute...plus security. Restaurant workers, just like passengers, must go through airport security to get to work. A 30 minute lunch break can be spent almost entirely in line trying to return to work. Every move an airport restaurant employee makes outside of his or her own terminal must be carefully considered. Neither employees nor customers have time to waste, which is why...
Executing orders can't take more than 2 minutes. Panos says his non-airport Fresh to Order outlets have 6-7 minute turnaround times for orders. But at his airport location, food needs to be prepared in just 2 minutes to accommodate hungry guests desperately trying to squeeze in a bite between flights.
Yeesh. Are you laying down yet? Panos lays out several other hurdles that restauranteurs face on a daily basis when operating within an airport's passenger terminals, but I'm honestly exhausted just imagining the points I've outlined here. So flash a smile at your airport barista and don't forget to tip the person making your sandwich.