Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 12:54AM |  46°
MENU
Advertisement
Travelers walk through the Airmall in the Pittsburgh International Airport terminal.
1
MORE

Airport should not close landside terminal

Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Airport should not close landside terminal

I found the April 14 article “Original Architect Critical of Airport Update” to be of great interest and it raised several questions in my mind. As a native Pittsburgher, I viewed our heavily used pre-9/​11 hub facility with great pride. It’s pretty sad these days to walk to the end of concourses A and B and find them nearly deserted.

After the loss of our hub status, the general consensus in the local media and among many patients from my medical practice who were associated with the airlines was that once the bonds were paid off, the plan was to drop the landing fees as low as possible in the hope of regaining hub status. Those bonds are now paid off, but instead of seeking to re-establish the airport as a hub, we are instead being sold on the concept of a replacement for the landside terminal.

While I have little doubt that some of the components of our 1992 airport need to be updated or replaced, does this really justify the cost of closing the landside terminal and replacing the existing road system and parking garage? Furthermore, the cost of just throwing away these serviceable structures needs to be figured into the cost equation.

Advertisement

But most important, what happened to the idea of restoring our hub status through charging the lowest possible landing fees? I do not purport to be an expert on the airline industry and perhaps that concept is no longer possible in today’s world. But rather than just proposing a new landside terminal, the Airport Authority really owes the citizens of Allegheny County an answer as to why this idea is no longer possible, and if it is possible, why it is not being pursued.

Neal A. Schorr
Marshall

First Published: April 16, 2019, 4:00 a.m.

Advertisement
RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
The two Franks worked with pizza legends Chris Bianco and Chad Robertson to perfect their craft.
1
life
A beloved pizzeria is expanding beyond Brooklyn. First stop, Mt. Lebanon.
Students at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus in Lemont Furnace, walk to class on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025.
2
news
Penn State to close some commonwealth campuses, President Bendapudi announces
Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi spoke during a dedication ceremony for the newly renamed Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center at Penn State, located in Uptown on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023.
3
news
Penn State Faculty Senate tables vote of no confidence in President Bendapudi
Ireland Brown is charged with assault, hindering apprehension, tampering with evidence and for the conduct of others in connection with what police have called a seemingly unprovoked attack on 53-year-old Preston Coleman at an Aliquippa VFW on Jan. 5. Investigators alleged that while Ms. Brown did not participate in the assault, she did nothing to intervene for the 30 minutes that it went on.
4
news
Lawsuit filed against Aliquippa VFW where ‘brutal’ assault occurred
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jared Jones (37) delivers during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in Bradenton, Fla.
5
sports
3 takeaways as Pirates suffer 1st loss of spring training to Braves
Travelers walk through the Airmall in the Pittsburgh International Airport terminal.  (Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette)
Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST opinion
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story