Robot delivers food to Philadelphia airport customers contact-free

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- People waiting at Philadelphia International Airport can now get food delivered to them, contact-free, thanks to a new robot.

The droid is called a gita - pronounced jee-tah.

"Now more than ever we are looking to be forward-thinking and innovative regarding our contactless ordering options," Megan O'Connell, PHL Food & Shops Marketing and Customer Service Manager, said in a statement. "Gita allows our guests to customize their experience by choosing how much or how little human interaction they want when having their food delivered. We are thrilled to offer this feature as part of the seamless contactless ordering experience at PHL."

From Feb. 22 through April, travelers can order food from airport restaurants by going to OrderatPHL.com.

Then the gita uses Bluetooth to follow an airport AtYourGate representative through the airport, right to where the passenger is located in the airport.

The gita, which can carry up to 40 pounds, features a cargo bin to hold guests' orders.

Once the gita arrives, passengers can open the robot's bin and remove the food order for themselves.

The gita units were developed by Piaggio Fast Forward and have been piloted at several other U.S. airports.

"We think passengers and employees will be pleasantly surprised to see their AtYourGate delivery being handled by a robot," said O'Connell. "At the end of the pilot, we will look at feedback from customers and from the AtYourGate team members working with the gita to better understand how we can utilize Gita in the future."