It's "Just Plane Fun" At The Philadelphia International Airport
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With summer travel season in full swing, Philadelphia International Airport has launched its "Just Plane Fun" activities.
The program includes beauty makeovers, costume photo booths, magicians, a scavenger hunt and if you'd rather just read, a virtual library.
This is the fifth year the airport is trying to make the journey as fun as the destination.
CEO Mark Gale says it's all about the passenger experience.
Traveling through the airport, at anytime, but particularly during the summertime when it's crowded, can be stressful.
Sometimes there can be delays due to thunderstorms and we're just trying to do our part to make sure everyone has a wonderful time when they come through the airport.
Gale is particularly proud of a new feature this year-- pop-up fitness centers, with low-effort exercise cycles so travelers can sit and get some passive cardio in.
Jeanine Morris was thrilled to find them during a six-hour layover between Tanzania and Tennessee:
It feels great. It feels good to be moving after being still for all that time.
Other airports have tried installing fitness centers, or offering yoga, without attracting many flyers, but airport CEO Mark Gale says what Philadelphia's doing-- low-key, pop-up equipment which will move through the terminals-- is different.
Gale says, "it's not a full-blown, everybody's-gonna-get sweaty work-out but rather an opportunity to either relieve some stress, burn off a few calories, get some exercise."
Indeed, Morris was multi-tasking, noting the cycle was right next to a charging station:
Catch up on all the things I missed while I was gone, the Facebook, the texts that came in while I was gone and I can just pedal while I answer.
Gale says if it's popular enough, the cycles may stay year-round.
The rest of the program ends September 12th.
