Drastic changes could be in store for Pittsburgh International Airport under a proposed master plan to be unveiled in the months ahead, perhaps even the possible loss of one of the two buildings that make up the 25-year-old midfield terminal.
One option being considered is discontinuing the use of the $1 billion terminal’s landside building, which is used for ticketing, security screenings, and to check and retrieve bags.
If selected, such a move likely would mean the demise of the automated tram — at one time considered among the airport’s cutting-edge features — that whisks travelers to and from the X-shaped airside building where they get on and off their planes.
Rich Stanizzo, a board member for the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which operates Pittsburgh International, acknowledged that ending the use of the landside building is one of many options being considered. But he stressed that nothing has been decided.
“There’s all kinds of options — doing nothing, going that way,” he said.
Even if the authority ultimately decides against the idea, there still could be big changes in store for the terminal, as officials seek to right size a complex that was built to handle as many as 35 million passengers a year but which now accommodates about 8.3 million.
Christina Cassotis, the authority’s CEO, said last year officials were considering the idea of demolishing unused gates as a means of adjusting the terminal to its traffic.
She estimated then that more than 25 of the airport’s 75 gates go unused — a fallout from the decision by US Airways, now part of American Airlines, to close its Pittsburgh hub in 2004, costing the region hundreds of daily flights and millions of connecting passengers.
Many of the gates, she has said, have become obsolete as technology has advanced and airlines have become far more efficient in moving planes in and out as fast as possible.
Ms. Cassotis could not be reached for comment Thursday about the possible option of discontinuing or modifying the use of the landside building.
“As we’ve said before, we are in the midst of a master plan process to modernize and right-size our facilities to be more cost-efficient.,” authority spokesman Bob Kerlik said in a statement. “We expect to complete that process in the coming months, which includes many different options for modernizing the facility with no local tax dollars. Nothing has been decided.”
Without mentioning anything about the landside building, county Executive Rich Fitzgerald said there are “lots of different plans” under consideration, including reconfiguring runways and baggage claim.
“There are so many different things in the mix. It’s hard to keep up with all of the different options,” he said.
Mr. Fitzgerald noted that the airlines operating from Pittsburgh have made it clear they don’t want to see an increase in their costs as part of any changes. The goal of the master plan, he said, is to pave the way for more passenger growth and to make the airport more competitive in attracting flights.
“Part of the challenge is how to design an airport that’s not going to be here for the next three to five years but for the next 25 years. How much parking do we need with Uber and ride sharing? That was never on the radar in the early 1990s,” he said.
Should the authority opt to mothball the landside building, it’s unclear at this point what would happen to the ticketing, baggage and security functions and what the cost would be in moving them.
Possible options could include incorporating them into the airside building or erecting some type of ancillary facility to handle them.
Tasso Katselas, the Pittsburgh-based architect who designed the midfield terminal, said Thursday one of the options he had originally considered was a single X-shaped building with the ticketing and baggage functions attached.
He didn’t dismiss the idea of mothballing the landside building now, calling it a “bold suggestion.”
“The danger is once it’s done, you can’t undo it. Who knows what the future holds? You would hate to see it done and the situation changes and we need all the gates,” he said. “That’s a situation where you have to weigh it very carefully.”
Should the authority decide to close the landside building, Mr. Katselas said it could make for great office space for companies that travel regularly. “I would certainly try to market it because there are certainly people who need office space and a connection to travel.”
The authority is preparing a new master plan at a key point in the airport’s history. The master lease agreement with the airlines, reached in conjunction with the terminal’s opening in 1992, expires next year.
In 2018, terminal debt service payments also will drop by more than two-thirds, potentially meaning a reduction in the fees paid by the airlines.
The talk of downsizing is a far cry from what was being proposed a year after the terminal opened.
Back then, with US Airways still growing in Pittsburgh, officials were thinking about potentially expanding the airport to 100 gates and even adding a V-shaped terminal of up to 20 gates to accommodate international flights.
But that was before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, two bankruptcies by US Airways and its subsequent downsizing in the region, airline mergers, and changes in business strategies that made hubs in mid-size cities like Pittsburgh obsolete.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: August 18, 2017, 10:30 a.m.
