Airport CEO: Innovation Will Spark Strong Recovery
Christina Cassotis discusses changes coming to travel industry, need for invention, ingenuity, imagination
By Christina Cassotis
Published May 4, 2020
Read Time: 2 mins
It’s a clever idea, incorporating ultraviolet lights on autonomous floor scrubbers to help disinfect and kill germs.
But until now, it hasn’t been done in U.S. airports. This type of UV technology is already used in hospitals, but testing its effectiveness in the domestic aviation industry has only now come to the forefront thanks, in part, to a Pittsburgh robotics firm.
As our country and the world start to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the travel industry must embrace these kinds of innovative solutions to ensure the health and safety of its workers and the traveling public.
After Sept. 11, 2001, the travel industry went through a major transformation, with a new focus on security. Now, we are facing an even bigger recovery challenge with another major transformation upcoming—this one focused on public health.
Airports, including PIT, are considering and adopting new practices for returning travelers in the new normal, everything from incorporating social distancing throughout the terminal and installing plastic shield barriers to placing more spacing between seats and increasing touchless transactions.
More details will be introduced in the coming weeks, but even more will be required to continue building public confidence. That’s why our airport is looking to our region’s strengths in allowing Pittsburgh to do what it does best—innovation and reinvention.
Before COVID-19, talking about a UV strategy seemed like it would be a nice-to-have. Now it’s a must-have. And what made it easier for us is that we didn’t have to look very far. Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Robotics is our partner in testing and deploying self-driving scrubbers with UV lights designed to kill microbes, including viruses and bacteria.
That type of world-leading robotics technology and UV innovation is emblematic of the new Pittsburgh. It’s those types of ideas and reinvention that our region, and airport, have become known for.
We know that a UV strategy is just the first step, a