PIT Selected for Hall of Fame Honor

No stranger to Halls of Fame, Pittsburgh can now boast its newest member: Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).

The airport has been named an inaugural member of the 2024 Air Transport World magazine (ATW) Hall of Fame. The honor recognizes those airlines, airports and leaders that have made significant contributions to the global air transport industry. Of the nine inductees, PIT was the only airport selected.

“This award is really Pittsburgh’s award. It reflects everything that we’ve done and all that we are continuing to do to create an airport and operation that works for the people of this region,” said Christina Cassotis, Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO. “Being recognized for that work and knowing that our peers globally see the contributions that we have made to the industry, is very humbling. When you see the full list of honorees, we are in great company, but are also the only airport included. It’s even more meaningful because we know where we started just a few short years ago.”

PIT leaders and partners were surprised with the selection and award at an ATW event in Dubai on Friday, May 31. Representatives from across the global aviation community attended the event that coincided with the 80th Annual International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting.

The Hall of Fame was created this year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ATW Awards. Established in 1974 to recognize excellence across airline operations, the ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards are given to global organizations that have distinguished themselves through outstanding performance and superior service.

“PIT is a critical part of our economy and region. The airport is an economic engine and tool for the thousands of businesses that call Pittsburgh home, including Carnegie Robotics,” said Mike Embrescia, Chief Development Officer of Carnegie Robotics. “Our region’s technology companies continue to attract venture capital funding, building on our reputation for innovation. We would not be as successful as we have without a partner like PIT that has been able to add more air service to other major tech centers, enabling our market to grow even further.”

The 2024 Hall of Fame class includes six airlines, an industry organization and an individual. In addition to PIT, those honorees are Airlink, Air Canada, Air Serbia, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Emirates, Korean Air and James Hogan, former CEO of Etihad Airways. Airline leaders at the event pointed to the work that PIT is doing to change the industry.

The Hall of Fame designation is on the heels of several others received this year recognizing the airport’s broad catalog of work. The airport recently received the Jay Hollingsworth Speas Award given to people and organizations “judged to have contributed most significantly in recent years to the enhancement of relationships between airports and/or heliports and their surrounding environments via exemplary innovation that might be replicated elsewhere.”

In March, PIT was listed second on the 2024 list of most innovative transportation companies by Fast Company magazine. The recognition highlighted the airport’s work to leverage its terminal construction project to create job-training opportunities through initiatives like PIT2Work and acting as a strong employer and key community builder.

Fast Company also highlighted Neighborhood 91, the unique advanced manufacturing campus at the airport.

These projects continue to provide substantial public benefit without the use of local tax dollars. Collectively, the airport’s work has helped the region develop a strong, diverse workforce by opening doors and removing barriers to careers in the aviation industry and beyond. These efforts serve as examples of what can be done to provide equal access to opportunity in the workplace throughout the region, across business sectors, and in the operations of the aviation industry.

Amidst that work, the airport also continues its work on a new terminal that will meet the needs of this region.

ATW previously recognized PIT in 2017 as Airport of the Year, the first airport in the United States to be honored as such.