What Decisions Have Helped PIT Turn Challenges into Opportunities?

The story of Pittsburgh is the story of how disruption is transformed into opportunity.

The region, which has undergone not one but two official renaissances, is arguably in the midst of another. And the new Pittsburgh International Airport is a key element of the revitalization and reimagining of the region and its economy.

To understand the airport’s transformation, it’s important to know its history.

In 2004 after US Airways abandoned its hub at the airport, which was designed in no small part to meet the needs of the airline, what to do about PIT became the priority of incoming Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

“When I got elected, I think that was the number one thing I heard, you got to fix the airport,” said Fitzgerald, who served as Allegheny County Executive from 2012 to 2023 and is now Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

Before changes could be made, the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which had been created in late 1999 to enable the airport to operate more like a business, had to find a new CEO.

It wasn’t an easy task until the team was able to pivot and focus on its strengths, which include 8,800 acres of land rich with natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. A deal with Consol Energy to lease property at the airport to extract natural gas boosted revenue and allowed the ACAA to attract world-class talent.

When it was determined that Christina Cassotis was the choice for CEO in January 2015, it meant taking a different strategic approach. Over the last 10 years, her vision has not only emphasized PIT’s new role as a growing origin and destination airport that is dedicated to serving Pittsburgh, but it also reimagined the airport as an innovation hub, an energy campus and a partner in regional workforce development. Redefining how an airport can enhance its community also has given rise to the microgrid that powers the campus, an advanced manufacturing campus at Neighborhood 91, and Presley’s Place, an innovative sensory room that has become a model for accessible spaces worldwide.

“The airport, under the leadership of Christina and the team that she’s built around her, it is very clear how much she and the team at the airport care about investing in Pittsburgh,” said Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato.

When the new terminal designed especially for Pittsburgh travelers opens this year, it will be another tangible manifestation of the transformation that has been ongoing for a decade.

“When I got here, Pittsburgh had been counted out in aviation, and I would say that is far from how the industry looks at us today and we have flipped on a whole new set of opportunities from this community that I think is just really exciting and I don’t really see the end of anytime soon,” Cassotis said.