This Week’s Video: How the Creation of the Airport Authority Paid Off

At the end of 1999, Republican and Democratic politicians pinned their hopes for the future on a bold experiment to create the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

Looking back on the 25 years since, there is little doubt that their vision paid off.

Bob Cranmer, the Republican Allegheny County Commissioner who worked with his Democratic colleague Mike Dawida to create the ACAA, knows to this day that it was necessary to lay the groundwork for “a good, well-run airport.”

“I don’t think we’d have the innovation or the progress we made” without the authority model, agreed Jeffrey Letwin, the lawyer hired to shepherd the creation of the ACAA who now serves as its solicitor.

READ MORE: Part 1: How an Act of Political Courage Created the Airport Authority

The model encouraged redefining what an airport is and gave rise to a host of innovations, including a microgrid that completely powers the campus, an advanced manufacturing campus at Neighborhood 91, and Presley’s Place, an innovative sensory room that created a blueprint for accessible spaces worldwide.

“All of that is really meant to deliver value back to the community and to the global industry,” said Christina Cassotis, CEO of the ACAA.

“The changes that we have seen at the airport have just been demonstrative,” said Audrey Russo, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council, citing the many partnerships with the local and global innovation economies.

Rob Cherry, CEO of Partner4Work, which works with the PIT2Work pre-apprenticeship training program, cited the workforce development effort as “not only innovative for an airport, that’s innovative for business right now.”

Cranmer said the impact on the regional economy validates the stance he took 25 years ago: “I get questions all the time, ‘Was it a good idea to change form of government?’ Absolutely.”