Pittsburgh International Airport (IATA: PIT , ICAO: KPIT , FAA LID: PIT ), formerly Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Greater Pittsburgh International Airport and commonly referred to as Pittsburgh International, is a joint civil-military international airport located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Findlay Township, approximately 20 miles (30 km) west of downtown Pittsburgh at Exit 53 of I-376 and the Northern Terminus of PA Turnpike 576 (Future I-576). It is owned and operated by the Allegheny County Airport Authority which also operates the Allegheny County Airport. PIT is primarily a passenger airport serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, providing 158 non-stop flights per day to 38 destinations via 13 airlines. It also serves as the home of Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, a combined facility of the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard, providing aerial refueling, air mobility and tactical airlift support to the U.S. Air Force and other U.S. Department of Defense activities. Finally, the airport also has a robust air cargo facility and supports extensive general aviation operations.
PIT is the second busiest passenger airport in Pennsylvania and 47th busiest in the United States, serving 8,710,291 passengers in 2008 on 167,729 aircraft operations. The airport has the longest runways of a commercial airport in Pennsylvania at 11,500 feet. Until 2004, US Airways operated its largest hub at PIT. As of 2008, the airline remains PIT's largest carrier (handling 33 percent of passengers). Also, Trans World Airlines operated a hub at the old airport from the 1960's to 1985. Southwest Airlines began service at the airport in May 2005 and is currently the second largest airline in Pittsburgh with nonstop service to 7 destinations and more than 20 daily flights. The airline has numerous times indicated an interest in expanding at the airport, however Southwest has slowed all expansion due to the 2008-2009 economic slowdown and high airport costs. Once Northwest Airlines is fully integrated with Delta, the combined airline will surpass Southwest as the airport's second largest carrier by daily departures, which will average 31 per day compared with Southwest's 22 per day. Even with all its recent cuts, US Airways will likely still remain the airport's dominant carrier by both passengers carried and daily departures, which currently averages just over 50 per day. US Airways currently utilizes 10 gates, more than any other airline at PIT, followed by Delta which operates 5 gates.
The airport offers service to the United States, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and Europe. Mainline passenger aircraft that regularly visit the airport include the Boeing 717, Boeing 737, and Boeing 757; the Airbus A319, Airbus A320, and Airbus A321; the Douglas DC-9, MD80, and MD90; and the Embraer E-190. Widebody passenger aircraft have not served the airport regularly since US Airways ended its transatlantic Boeing 767 and Airbus A330 service to Frankfurt, London, and Paris. US Airways' Boeing 767's were also used on some high density domestic routes. On occasion, Delta Air Lines' Boeing 767-300s are filled in for the 757 flights to Paris and Atlanta. No Boeing 747's have served the airport since British Airways ended service to London Gatwick on Oct. 31, 1999. Nonstop transatlantic service resumed on June 3, 2009 when Delta Air Lines began flights to Paris. The new service operates 5 days a week and was made possible by Delta's successful joint-venture with Air France.
PIT occupies more than 12,900 acres (52 km 2 ), making it the fourth largest airport by land area owned in the nation, behind Denver International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Orlando International Airport. It is so large that both Chicago's O'Hare and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson could comfortably fit within the airport's land area.
PIT has been frequently recognized for its quality in meeting travelers' needs. OAG Worldwide listed the facility to its short list of the world's best airports for four consecutive years. The market research leader, JD Power and Associates named PIT among the top five airports in its two most recent customer satisfaction surveys. Conde Nast Traveler's Magazine named PIT the best in the United States and third in the world in its 2000 People's Choice Award.
History
Until the beginning of World War II, Moon Township, PA was mostly a rural agricultural area. It was too far from downtown Pittsburgh to be considered the "suburb" that it is today, although it was served solely by Pittsburgh media and state/federal services. In the early 1920s, John A. Bell of Carnegie purchased a number of small farms in Moon and established a major commercial dairy farm on his 1,900 acres (8 km 2 ) of land. He was bought out by Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Reick and C.F. Nettrour, owners of the established "Reick's" Dairy, who doubled the number of cattle at the farm.
By 1940, the United States was becoming involved in World War II. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) identified that the Pittsburgh area needed a military airport to defend the industrial wealth of the area and to provide a training base and stop-over facility. The agricultural expanses of Moon Township were attractive to the early airport planners in the city. The WPA bought the Bell Farm and began construction of the runways.
In 1944, Allegheny County officials proposed to expand the military airport with the addition of a commercial passenger terminal in order to relieve the Allegheny County Airport, which was built in 1926 and whose capacity was quickly becoming insufficient to support the growing demand for air travel. Ground was broken on the new airport on July 18, 1946. The new terminal building would eventually cost $33 million to build and was built exclusively by Pittsburgh-area companies. The new airport, christened as Greater Pittsburgh Airport (renamed Greater Pittsburgh International Airport in 1972 upon the opening of the International Arrivals Building) opened on May 31, 1952. The first flight occurred on June 3, 1952. In its full year of operation in 1953, over 1.4 million passengers used the terminal. At that time, "Greater Pitt" was considered "modern" and spacious. In fact, the airport was the largest in the United States, second only to Idlewild Airport (now JFK Airport) in New York when it was completed 5 years later.
The airport was designed by a local architect named Joseph W. Hoover. One of the primary features of his style is the use of simple, exposed concrete, steel, and glass materials. The terminal building was constructed in "stepped" levels: the first floor extended farther than the second, the second floor extended farther than the third, etc. Such a design meant that the uncovered roof of the lower level could then be used as an observation deck. In addition to the observation desks, the rounded "Horizon Room" was designed on the fourth floor with a commanding view of the airport runways. The interior of the terminal building was designed in the International Style, as was the exterior. One of the most memorable features of the lobby was the large compass laid in the floor with the green and yellow-orange terrazzo. The lobby also included shops and services for travelers. A mobile by Alexander Calder was another decorative feature of the lobby. The mobile currently hangs in the center core of the new airside terminal, and a re-creation of the compass was installed in the new terminal at an exhibit dedicated to old "Greater Pitt."
The first five airlines of the Greater Pittsburgh Airport were TWA, Capital Airlines (later part of United), Northwest, All American (later Allegheny Airlines, then USAir, and finally US Airways), and Eastern Airlines.
In 1959, the east dock was added to the terminal as air travel became more popular. On July 25, 1959, TWA introduced the first scheduled commercial jet aircraft service (Boeing 707) to Pittsburgh. With the longer range of jet engines, international air travel was more practical. By 1969, the airport sought to become an "international" airport. Ground was broken for the new International Wing, west of the original terminal building, on July 8, 1970. The International Wing opened in 1972 to accommodate federal inspection services and other requirements for international travel.
From the 1960's to about 1985, Trans World Airlines operated a hub out of PIT. Destinations included major and secondary US Cites, London and Frankfurt.
In 1972, rotundas were added to the end of each dock to further expand the number of gates at the terminal. In the later 1970s, significant growth in regional air travel created a need for additional gates at the terminal. In 1980, the South East Dock was opened. Even with all the expansions, the terminal could not meet the needs of modern air travel, and in 1987, with the financial backing of USAir (the most dominant carrier in Pittsburgh at the time), ground was broken on construction of a brand new terminal.
In 1985, the first Transatlantic flight service on an international airline came to Pittsburgh. British Airways started service in 1985 using Boeing 747-200 aircraft. The initial route flew from Pittsburgh to London-Heathrow with a stop in Philadelphia. The stop point was changed to Washington. Then, a non-stop flight to London-Gatwick, with a change to London-Heathrow again with a stop in Montreal. The route remained a non-stop
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