Meet the Leader of the PIT Team Preparing for a Seamless Opening

Pittsburgh International Airport needed an expert to ensure the operational readiness of its new Terminal Modernization Program (TMP). Enter Daniel Bryan.

Bryan has led complex operational and infrastructure projects worldwide, with a focus on the aviation and commercial sectors. His experience includes completing several assignments at the world-renowned Dubai Airports.

PIT leadership turned to Bryan to lead the Operational Readiness and Transition (ORAT) team. ORAT ensures the project is not only physically ready, but truly operational when it opens this fall.

A test will come on Sept. 20 with the first of two integrated public trials. The trial will replicate peak travel time at PIT, stress-testing the systems. The purpose is to identify if any issues exist that need to be addressed so that the terminal is ready for Day 1.

“This is the first opportunity that we see the building come alive,” said Bryan.

One of the main benefits is the immediate feedback from the trial participants and the observers that will shape and define the new terminal going forward.

“We don’t do a trial because it’s fun,” Bryan said. “We do a trial because something’s new or modified and we want to prove it. We want to make sure that systems are working, people are trained, and the building can accommodate what we think it is.”

To get ready for these public trials, the airport leaned heavily on the ORAT team to ensure that on Day 1 the first passengers will feel like the airport has been serving the community for years.

“This project will be built by Pittsburgh, for Pittsburgh and trialed by Pittsburgh,” Bryan said.

Bryan has been leading ORAT efforts for just under a year, although the team has been involved since the beginning of the project.

Bryan has been impressed by how integrated the ORAT process has been at PIT since the beginning of the project.

“I have worked around the globe,” Bryan said. “PIT has absolutely adopted international best practice. By bringing ORAT at design enables the building to be shaped around the operation rather than the operation having to work around the building.

“PIT didn’t wait until six months before the TMP opens and say, ‘Come look at how to run this airport’,” he said. “Senior leadership said from the beginning, ‘We want to know your opinion on how things work or how they could work’.”

A Senior Leadership team that knows, appreciates and values ORAT is unique in his experience.

“Usually, I’m knocking on their doors and like, ‘Hey, give me some time here.’ That’s not the case here,” he said.