Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the Pittsburgh Business Times.
25 years ago, Allegheny County took a bold step.
At that time, county leaders chose business management and agility over politics to manage our region’s airports. The county transformed its aviation department from an agency to another, with a CEO reporting to a board of directors.
Allegheny County Airport Authority board members are nominated by the county government and confirmed by the County Council. This is a partnership between the county government and the community: we are licensed to act in the public interest while maximizing business opportunities in the region.
When the ACAA Board held its first meeting on July 29, 1999, it probably did not foresee the hard times that lay ahead for Pittsburgh International Airport: Five years later, US Airways—which would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice within two years—withdrew its hub from Pittsburgh International Airport, leaving behind the unpaid debt that had financed the airport’s construction in 1992.
Fast forward to today. In June, we had our highest monthly passenger volume since 2005, with more than 970,000 passengers traveling through PIT. Passenger volume is up 14 percent year over year, and many of our airlines are offering more seats than ever before from PIT.
The airport hit its lowest point in 2014 with 36 nonstop destinations. Today, there are 62 nonstop destinations with 171 daily departures, and ticket prices have dropped more than 30 percent. During the same period, operations at Allegheny County Airport have grown 20 percent.
Icelandair and British Airways aircraft park in Hall C of PIT for flights to Reykjavik and London Heathrow on June 28, 2024. (Photo by Evan Dougherty)
Quite a comeback, not least thanks to our status as an authority rather than a government agency. The authority model not only allows us to act like a business; it requires us to. We answer not only to our board of directors, but also to our partner airlines, who have a stake in this by funding the majority of airport operating budgets. Decisions can be made quickly and without political interference.
This has allowed us to leverage 4,000 acres of developable land at PIT to generate additional revenue and spur economic growth in the region, such as Neighborhood 91, a global center for advanced manufacturing. This non-aeronautical revenue translates into lower costs for airlines, which is why they value us as a partner who respects their business and capabilities.
The authority model allowed us to pursue an aggressive recruiting strategy for flight service and gave PIT the flexibility to build a microgrid that provides 100 percent power to the airport—the first in the world to do so. It gave us the flexibility to open “Presley’s Place,” a space for travelers with autism and other sensory disabilities that has set a standard for airports nationwide. It gives us the flexibility to partner with energy companies with the goal of producing 150 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel on-site at PIT—a major step toward decarbonizing the aviation industry.
And it gives us the flexibility to build the new Pittsburgh International Airport, an airport that lives up to the thriving origin and destination airport we have become. It includes a new terminal, a new parking garage and airport terminal renovations, including new restaurants and retail stores. We’re building it without a dime of local or state tax dollars.
But good governance alone is not the solution. The team I’ve assembled at ACAA, the people, have made our success possible. Because we’re an authority, we can compete aggressively for talent and draw on a broad pool, not just a single county or city. By working as close to a private company as possible, we attract people who want to innovate, and we give them the runway to success.
Ten years ago, I accepted a recruiter’s invitation to interview for the position of CEO of ACAA, in part because the county’s foresight in creating the agency had positioned our airports for success. The rest is history.
Christina Cassotis is CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority.
