Here's a concept: Civilized dining at the airport

— -- The company in charge of food service at JetBlue's new Terminal 5 at JFK airport in New York aims to deliver quality chow to the harried masses, but it also has a far loftier goal for the October opening and beyond.

"We want to bring humanity back to dining in an airport," says Rick Blatstein, CEO of OTG Management. "Our objective is to change the 'need to go to the airport early' mind-set to 'want to go to the airport early.' "

Travelers hardened by flight delays and security regulations probably will say, "Good luck with that." But user-friendly approaches such as table-service dining in the gate areas and a gourmet market selling more than 1,000 heart-healthy, green-leaning items "will be a new business model for the future," predicts Blatstein, whose company operates concessions at nine other major domestic airports. At Terminal 5, OTG owns and operates the spaces, which gives it more flexibility than if it were tied to contracts with national chains, he says.

The most innovative dining program appears to be "re:vive," consisting of 16-seat clusters in front of about half of the terminal's 26 gates. Each cluster has electric outlets for recharging laptops and cellphones and touch-screen monitors that display flight information and a food/beverage menu. Customers can order food, pay for it with a credit-card swipe and have it delivered, all without leaving the gate area. The screen will note the approximate delivery time (usually within 10 to 15 minutes, Blatstein says) and ask if it's acceptable. The small-plate options — sandwiches, meat and cheese plates, appetizers — arrive either on a plate with silverware or in a to-go container. Average check: $7 to $8.

OTG has spent more than $45 million to build the 22 food and beverage outlets, which are highlighted by a central 55,000-square-foot dining/shopping Marketplace. There also will be 25 retail spaces in the $743 million terminal, which is designed to accommodate up to 20 million passengers a year and will handle up to 250 flights a day.