‘Making History Again’: PIT Breaks Ground For Future

Standing before a backdrop of backhoes and cranes arrayed across Pittsburgh International Airport’s west ramp on Thursday, CEO Christina Cassotis made a bold declaration.

“Ninety years ago, Allegheny County Airport opened as the first airport in the nation with full lighting and paved runways. We made aviation history,” she said. “Today at Pittsburgh International Airport, we’re making history again. We’re really breaking ground on this region’s future.”

More than 300 people joined Cassotis at the ceremonial groundbreaking of the airport’s Terminal Modernization Program, a new $1.39 billion terminal intended to “right-size” the airport and focused on public health, sustainability and innovation.

Gathered under a sprawling white tent and sitting in socially distanced chairs on a warm fall afternoon, guests included community partners, elected officials, airline representatives and business leaders.

Cassotis, who runs the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which operates PIT and Allegheny County Airport, was joined onstage by county Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who said the TMP project is emblematic of the region’s progress as a whole.

“We are not the airport of yesterday,” he told the crowd. “We are not the market of yesterday. Airlines and businesses around the world are recognizing the renaissance that continues to evolve here.”

Modernization of the airport involves construction of a new 700,000-square-foot terminal that will include ticketing, security checkpoints and baggage claim. An adjacent complex includes a new 3,300-space parking garage, rental car facilities and new roadways.

Cassotis and other officials stressed the construction project is about more than steel beams and poured concrete, saying the authority has lofty goals for workforce diversity and participation by women- and minority-owned businesses among other efforts to offer equal access to opportunities, Cassotis said.

A unique partnership with OSHA is intended to heighten safety standards at the worksite and a daycare center will be built to help accommodate workers with families, as well.

‘Aviation legacy’

According to an economic impact report created by EBP US Inc., the new terminal, expected to open in 2025, will generate $2.5 billion for the local economy and add some 5,500 local construction and skilled labor jobs, along with 8,500 other jobs. It will generate $27 million in local tax revenue.

David Minnotte, chairman of the airport�