Airport Experience® News -Customer Service Issue 2026

PHL as the inspiration for their pep rallies,” says Leah Douglas, director of guest experience. This year PHL held pep rallies for all the events Philadelphia hosted, including the NCAA men’s basketball tournament opening round, the PGA Championship, World Cup matches, America’s 250 th birthday celebration and the MLB All-Star Game. Element Of Surprise Events for large annual celebrations, holidays and seasons are important, but sometimes it’s the smaller scale activations that are especially impactful, notes Avolta’s Iglesias. “We will always have big annual events that are popular across airports because of their wide appeal but we also love the opportunity to surprise travelers with something unexpected: a pop-up tasting with one of our local spirits partners, a ‘meet the maker’ event with local artisans,

“The activation featured a near-scale basketball court, authentic UCLA branding and an official basketball hoop from Pauley Pavilion, plus a live broadcast of UCLA’s Bruin Insider Show,” says Patricia Delatorre, ONT’s senior manager of advertising and partnerships. “The co-branded campaign message, ‘Champions Fly Here,’ connected UCLA’s championship legacy with ONT’s position as Southern California’s growing gateway.” In addition, ONT partners with Los Angeles Football Club to host an annual watch party. At Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), in-terminal pep rallies – which involve interactive games, artist demonstrations, music, giveaways and merchandise – have become a specialty. “They have been so well received by guests and employees alike that pep rallies and airport-wide community celebrations at PHL are here to stay. And other airports have been following suit like New Orleans and Seattle, both crediting

a book signing with a popular author, or a virtual reality experience exclusive to Club Avolta members,” she says. “It’s often the spontaneous moments that travelers remember the most. Response has been overwhelmingly positive and often genuinely surprised. A lot of travelers walk into airports expecting them to be purely transactional spaces, so when they encounter something unexpected and enjoyable, they light up.” At both PHL and LAS, music programs have been successful. At the former, the Sounds of Philly program launched in May of this year and brings in local musicians twice weekly to perform in locations both pre- and post-security. And LAS hosts local musicians during holidays and peak travel periods. “Most recently, in July, we partnered with talented artists from the Musicians’ Union of Las Vegas for performances in Terminals 1 and 3,” Chung says. The airport also recently hosted student DJs from a local

FR125_C3_AXN Ad_mechanical.pdf 1 10/15/26 1:28 PM

Thank you, Mel.

Your unique ability to build and nurture industry connections has helped make FuelRod the mobile charging service of choice for airports across the United States. We’ve truly enjoyed working with you. Thank you for your friendship, support, and the doors you’ve opened along the way.

With heartfelt appreciation, Joe, Claudio, Kendall, Paul and the entire FuelRod Team.

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AX NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2026