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Courtesy Fort Wayne Airport
Late-night travelers arriving at Fort Wayne International Airport are greeted by a kiosk offering free cookies.
At many airports, travelers rely on the free Wi-Fi. At Indiana’s Fort Wayne International Airport, they count on the complimentary cookies.
For more than 10 years now, volunteers have met arriving passengers with a warm greeting and a free, wrapped sugar cookie made at the Ellison Bakery across the street.
“The cookies really represent the friendliness of our airport and the region; that good ‘Hoosier hospitality’ if you will,” said Dave Young, the airport’s vice president of air service development.
More than a million cookies have been handed out since the program started, at a cost to the airport of about $16,000 a year.
But there was one problem: shifts for volunteers to hand out cookies ended at 8:30 p.m. That meant passengers arriving on later flights left the airport without a snack.
“We received quite a few comments from people that were unable to get their cookie,” said Young. “So we decided to build an after-hours, self-service cookie kiosk to address this issue.”
The kiosk, which looks like a pile of vintage suitcases, is filled with free cookies by volunteers each evening for the late-arriving travelers.
“It’s working out quite well,” said Young. “People here are quite adamant about their cookies.”
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Find more by Harriet Baskas on StuckatTheAirport.com and follow her on Twitter.
Leave a Comment:
More airports should do this!
Most airports don't have a bakery right across the street - the Sioux Falls airport has train tracks, a river, and the state pen. Add to that the smell of John Morrell's processing plant, and it would be better if they supplied barf bags.
i'd still rather have a brothel in airports. perfect for my business trips to play while wife is away! why hasn't someone put one up already?
MSNBC provides an benchmark for trivia.
Here's a cookie, now I need to frisk you.
Wonder how many people take 2 or more
There will always be those greedy, selfish folks who will take a handful. A nearby restaurant where you can sit outside with your dog, provides dog cookies. Most people will take one or two, but two people (daily customers) take an entire platefull. Since we go there frequently, we have just as frequently observed these people virtually empty the cookie container. Annoys the heck out of me.
At Derry-Air airlines, you have the option of by-passing regular security and submitting to an enhanced search involving Swedish & Asian massage, for a $75 fee. ("The Knight Life" comic strip, 9/28/2011)
When will life imitate art?
Once doctors have finished examining the kids, they get a lollipop. When finished being "examined" by TSA, passengers get a cookie. So apparently passengers don't have a copay since TSA agents don't have a medical degree.