Rich Fitzgerald: 10 Years of Achievements Under Christina Cassotis

Former Allegheny County Executive recounts a decade of change at the Airport Authority

By Rich Fitzgerald

Published January 14, 2025

Read Time: 8 mins

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Today, Jan. 15, marks the 10th anniversary of Christina Cassotis’ first day with the Allegheny County Airport Authority. I was anxious but excited to see how she would grow flights for our region, but I couldn’t have imagined all she has done over the last 10 years. But before we talk about that long list, let me tell you how we got there.

US Airways had been founded here in Pittsburgh. And in 1992, the county opened a “new” airport that was largely designed to US Airways’ specifications. Pittsburgh was the airline’s first hub. But in 2004, US Airways abandoned Pittsburgh. Its de-hubbing of the airport eliminated thousands of jobs and caused significant financial issues for the airport. In 2013, US Airways merged with American. Then in 2015, the FAA granted the two airlines the authority to operate as a single carrier. At that time, the final pieces that were still in Pittsburgh, including the flight operations center, moved to Texas.

I took office in January 2012, so it’s not surprising that “fixing the airport” was at the top of the priority list. One of the first things I did after my election was talk to the leadership at the airport authority to let them know that I wanted to make changes. We hired a search firm to identify candidates that could help us grow flights from the low of 36 nonstop destinations that we had dropped to – but couldn’t get anyone to apply because of the airport’s finances.

We had to come up with new revenues. Luckily for the county, there are 8,800 acres of land at the airport, and the value of the Marcellus Shale had just been discovered a few years earlier. The county p