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Pittsburgh International Airport

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An IATA airport code , also known as an IATA location identifier , IATA station code , or simply a location identifier , is a three-letter geocode designating many airports and metropolitan areas around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The characters prominently displayed on baggage tags attached at airport check-in desks are an example of a way these codes are used.

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98-473: Pittsburgh International Airport ( IATA : PIT , ICAO : KPIT , FAA LID : PIT ) — originally Greater Pittsburgh Airport and later Greater Pittsburgh International Airport — is a civil-military international airport in Findlay Township and Moon Township , Pennsylvania , United States. About 10 miles (15 km) west of downtown Pittsburgh , it is the primary international airport serving

196-641: A Polish Catholic church, a Roman Catholic Church (formerly 4), and a synagogue . In addition, the Attawheed Islamic Center opened in 2011, and the Indian Community Center in 2012. Carnegie also has many local fraternal organizations including the VFW , FOE , American Legion , Elks , Polish Eagles, Polish Sportsmen, AOH , Ukrainian-American Citizens' Club, plus a number of smaller clubs. Carnegie's students are served by

294-415: A $ 40 million loss per year ($ 66.3 million present day dollars) operating its hub at Pittsburgh, while also paying roughly 80% of the new airport's $ 673 million debt ($ 1.11 billion present day dollars) stemming from its requested construction of the new terminals. Just before emerging from bankruptcy in 2003, US Air canceled its leases at Pittsburgh without any notice to airport and county officials,

392-412: A Los Angeles-Chicago-Pittsburgh loop in summer 1959. The 1956 diagram shows runway 10/28 7500 ft, 5/23 5766 ft and 14/32 5965 ft. The longest runway was still 7500 ft when jets started in 1959 but was soon extended to 8000 ft. The 10500-ft runway 10L was added by 1965. In 1959, the east dock was added to the terminal. On 1 July 1968, international airport status was obtained with

490-408: A ballroom and meeting facilities. As part of a pilot program, hotel guests were allowed access to the post-security shops and restaurants without an airline ticket as long as they could pass through security. In 2017, airport officials opened post-security access to all non-flying persons who could pass through security, including hotel guests. A Sunoco -branded gas station is also located onsite. Both

588-503: A complete end-to-end supply chain allowing products to be manufactured and finished in one place and then shipped around the world from the airport. The site is being developed as part of a partnership with the University of Pittsburgh and will have 1.4 million square feet of manufacturing and office space. A Hyatt Regency hotel is located onsite and is directly connected to the landside terminal via moving walkway. The hotel also has

686-472: A female householder with no husband present, and 46.2% were non-families. 40.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.86. In the borough the population was spread out, with 19.4% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

784-539: A fourth crosswind runway. The airport's two longest runways are 11,500 feet (3,510 m) and 10,775 feet (3,280 m), allowing PIT to accommodate the largest airliners. Because of the development of non-aviation related business on airport land, PIT can add only one more runway (this number was as high as four in the past). With three parallel runways, simultaneous landings and/or departures can be performed in nearly any situation. Runways 10L and 10R have Category III ILS ( Instrument Landing System ) approaches. Runway 28R

882-437: A free lounge for active duty military and veterans in concourse C. There is an AirMall in the airside terminal, operated by Fraport , with numerous retail stores and restaurants. It was one of the first of its kind in an airport and paved the way for similar shopping experiences at other airports. Tenants in the airport are required to charge the same amount as they do at non-airport locations. Before 9/11, anyone could shop in

980-621: A link to Frankfurt in June 1990. The flight aboard Boeing 767s benefited the various West German companies that had offices in the city. On 1 October 1992, the new terminal opened, with operations having been transferred overnight from the old terminal. (The old terminal was kept until 1999 to house remaining operations offices.) The new terminal had numerous innovative features, including an AirMall, with more than 100 retailers and eateries. The air mall and underground tram were considered cutting-edge. The new landside/airside design construction eliminated

1078-651: A move that former Allegheny County Airport Authority executive director said was "completely immoral and unethical" in a 2021 interview. US Air filed for bankruptcy again in September 2004. Two months later, the carrier ceased service to London-Gatwick and Frankfurt, leaving the airport without any flights to Europe. After failed negotiations to lower landing fees and debt obligations, the airline announced in December 2004 that it would be reducing operations at Pittsburgh, shifting hub operations to Charlotte and Philadelphia. By

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1176-556: A need for more gates. In 1980 the South East Dock was opened. Even with these expansions, the terminal was too small. From the 1960s to about 1985, TWA operated a small hub at Pittsburgh. The carrier introduced service to London's Gatwick Airport on a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar in May 1981. This was the first route from Pittsburgh to Europe. It lasted four months; TWA stated that too few passengers were traveling in first class, rendering

1274-521: A new 80,000 sq ft cargo facility with 17 truck loading docks and enough apron space for two Boeing 747 freighters to be loaded or unloaded simultaneously. The facility is scheduled to open in 2024. Cargo traffic has increased considerably in recent years as airport officials have pitched Pittsburgh to cargo carriers as a more efficient alternative to clogged hubs like New York and Chicago. In 2017, Qatar Airways launched twice-weekly cargo service at Pittsburgh, backed by $ 1.5 million in subsidies. The effort

1372-567: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

1470-454: A nonstop route to Seattle/Tacoma . In 2017, Pittsburgh was the first U.S. airport to be named Airport of the Year by Air Transport World . Wow Air added year-round flights to Reykjavík in June 2017. The company operated the route with an Airbus A321. Starting in September 2017, non-ticketed persons were allowed to access the airside terminal and gates, similar to pre-9/11 policy. Pittsburgh

1568-648: A rail yard that had connections to several railroads early in the twentieth century, including the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal railroad, and the Pennsylvania Railroad . On August 25, 1923, an estimated 10,000 –30,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan (from surrounding areas) marched there to celebrate a so-called "Karnegie Day" and target the heavily-Catholic town's residents. The march was resisted by local residents, resulting in

1666-586: A riot which left injuries on both sides and the death of a Klansman. In the 1970s, Carnegie suffered economically with the closure of the great steel mills such as J & L in and around Pittsburgh. In 2004, Carnegie was significantly damaged by flooding as a result of Hurricane Ivan . Much of the commercial section of the borough, as well as the borough's Roman Catholic churches, was closed or damaged. But since 2014, Carnegie's Main Street has rebounded with many new restaurants and small businesses. Carnegie

1764-536: Is 833 ft (254 m) above sea level. Carnegie is bordered by Rosslyn Farms to the north, Scott Township to the east, south and southwest, Collier Township to the west, and Robinson Township to the northwest. As of the census of 2000, there were 8,389 people, 3,967 households, and 2,134 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,076.7 inhabitants per square mile (1,960.1/km ). There were 4,249 housing units at an average density of 2,571.3 per square mile (992.8/km ). The racial makeup of

1862-509: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

1960-919: Is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania , United States. The population was 8,134 in the 2020 census . It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area . Carnegie is named after Andrew Carnegie , who donated one of his libraries for the gesture. It was incorporated on March 1, 1894, from the boroughs of Chartiers and Mansfield (separated by Chartiers Creek). Later, the borough annexed part of Robinson Township (now Rosslyn Heights). Neighborhoods include Rosslyn Heights, Cubbage Hill, Irishtown, Forsythe Hill, Library Hill, and Old Mansfield. Many neighborhoods were at one time or another SKRT mined for coal . The main employers were steel mills such as Superior Steel & Union Electric Steel. Carnegie had

2058-617: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

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2156-485: Is certified for Category I ILS and is authorized for Category II approaches but requires special aircrew and aircraft certification. Runways 28L and 32 have Category I ILS approaches. All runways have GPS approaches as well. During westerly winds, Runway 28L serves as the primary arrival runway, while 28R serves as primary departure and secondary arrival runway. Runway 32 serves as the main arrival runway for general aviation traffic. During easterly winds, runway 10L serves as

2254-523: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

2352-661: Is home to the Grand Army of the Republic Cpt. Thomas Espy Post and Stage 62 theater productions. Off the Wall Productions theater also makes its home in Carnegie, and hosts the annual Pittsburgh New Works Festival . Carnegie is religiously diverse. There are two Orthodox Churches (Ukrainian and Russian), two Lutheran churches, a Ukrainian Catholic church, a Methodist church, an Episcopal church,

2450-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

2548-543: Is located at 40°24′25″N 80°5′12″W  /  40.40694°N 80.08667°W  / 40.40694; -80.08667 . It is approximately 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Pittsburgh . Chartiers Creek runs through the center of the borough and one tributary, Campbells Run , joins Chartiers Creek here. According to the United States Census Bureau , the borough has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km ), all land. Its average elevation

2646-543: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

2744-550: Is not found, and the number of gates would be reduced from 75 to 51. A new landside building would be constructed between the airside terminal's concourses C and D, with new security and baggage facilities, a new international arrivals area, and many other amenities to serve passengers. The board chairman of the Airport Authority, David Minnotte, said, "The people of Pittsburgh finally get an airport built for them and not USAir". No taxpayer dollars would be used to construct

2842-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

2940-471: The New York Times , and helped to pioneer modern airport design with its X-shape to reduce distance between gates, underground tram to transport passengers around the airport, and array of shopping options, all of which were cutting-edge at the time. Traffic peaked at 20 million passengers in the late 1990s, and US Air peaked at 542 flights and 11,995 employees at the airport in 2001, and the airport

3038-571: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

Pittsburgh International Airport - Misplaced Pages Continue

3136-657: The Greater Pittsburgh Region as well as adjacent areas in West Virginia and Ohio . The airport is owned and operated by the Allegheny County Airport Authority and offers passenger flights to destinations throughout North America and Europe . PIT has four runways and covers 10,000 acres (40 km). PIT is the largest civil/public airport in terms of land area in the state of Pennsylvania. First opened in 1952,

3234-469: The Hudson River . The airline closed the center in 2015 as part of its merger with American Airlines. (The center was rebuilt as a 9-1-1 center for Allegheny County, which opened in 2019.) In June 2009, Delta Air Lines commenced a route to Paris using Boeing 757s. The carrier made it seasonal in 2011. Since the wind down of US Airways hub at Pittsburgh, new low cost carriers have been able to enter

3332-537: The Marcellus Shale as well as solar panels . Most of the energy comes from natural gas; the 9,360 solar panels can generate up to 13% of its peak power. In its first year, the microgrid saved the airport an estimated $ 1 million in energy costs. In 2019, the airport announced the development of Neighborhood 91, a 195-acre hub for additive manufacturing on airport grounds. It is so named because Pittsburgh has 90 distinct neighborhoods. The development will house

3430-569: The Pennsylvania Turnpike . Interstate 70 to the south and Interstate 80 to the north are both less than an hour away. Just beyond Interstates 70 and 80, Interstate 77 to the west and Interstate 68 to the south are within 90 minutes of the airport. PIT offers on-site parking patrolled by the Allegheny County Police . The local Grant Oliver Corporation ran the parking from the airport's opening in 1952 until

3528-406: The poverty line , including 19.4% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over. Carnegie is a walkable community with many interesting and unique stores and restaurants on its Main Street. Its park is home to a dog park, playground, tennis courts, a hockey rink, basketball courts, baseball fields, walking trails, and Pitcher Skate Park . The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall

3626-554: The Airside Terminal, where all departure gates are located. All international arrivals, except for cities with United States border preclearance , pass through Concourse C. American Airlines has an Admirals Club on the mezzanine level of the airside terminal. The Club Lounge opened in October 2017 in the C Concourse across from gate C-52 near the center core and was renovated and expanded in 2019. The airport also operates

3724-481: The Airside Terminal. In 2007, US Air's market share in Pittsburgh dropped below 40% for the first time since the airport's expansion in 1992. By the end of the decade, US Airways had reduced to 68 flights per day, operating from ten gates on Concourse B, and one US Airways Club location. Numerous US Airways ticketing and customer service counters were abandoned, and 15 gates on Concourse A and B were sealed off from

3822-503: The Allegheny County Airport Authority chose to switch to national contractor LAZ Parking, which took over in October 2022 and will also oversee new facilities planned to open in 2024. Grant Oliver offered a GO FAST Pass account to pay for parking electronically via E-ZPass . This system was renamed to PIT Express Pass by LAZ. LAZ also offers online parking reservations. There are regular parking shuttles to

3920-462: The Americas. LSG SkyChefs cited the region's strategic location for air and truck transport to major suppliers and customers, as well as the airport's excellent record in maintaining and expanding capacity. In 2018, the airport announced plans to construct its own microgrid , using natural gas and solar power as the primary power source for the airport, protecting it from power outages. In 2019,

4018-688: The Bell Farm, and federal agencies began construction of the runways on 20 April 1942, after the US had entered the war. In 1944, Allegheny County officials proposed to expand the military airport with the addition of a commercial passenger terminal to relieve the Allegheny County Airport , which was built in 1926 and was becoming too small. Ground was broken on the new passenger terminal on 18 July 1946. The new terminal would eventually cost $ 33 million ($ 379 million present day dollars) and

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4116-511: The Greater Pittsburgh Airport were Trans World Airlines (TWA), Capital Airlines (later part of United), Northwest, All American (later Allegheny Airlines, then USAir , and finally US Airways), and Eastern Airlines. The April 1957 Airline Guide shows 58 weekday departures on Capital, 54 TWA, 18 Allegheny, 8 United, 7 Eastern, 4 Northwest, 3 American and 2 Lake Central. The first jets in service at Pittsburgh were TWA 707s on

4214-702: The Long Term and Extended lots that can be accessed from the Baggage Claim level of the Landside Terminal. There are four options for parking: Short Term, Long Term, Extended, and Economy. The economy option was added in 2021. The short term garage has 2100 spaces and is attached to the landside terminal via the enclosed moving walkway. The long term section is also connected to the enclosed moving walkway and has 3,100 spaces available. The extended and economy sections have an outdoor walkway that leads to

4312-482: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Carnegie, Pennsylvania Carnegie ( / k ɑːr ˈ n eɪ ɡ i / )

4410-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

4508-729: The airport agreed to fund $ 182 million in construction site preparation work for the project. An additional $ 28.8 million in funding will come from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act . Construction finally began in July 2021 and the project is expected to be completed in October 2025. The airport is partly in Findlay Township. The Air Reserve Station is in Moon Township. PIT has a wide, open layout and four runways: three east–west parallel runways and

4606-418: The airport authority awarded Peoples Natural Gas a 20-year contract to build, maintain, and operate the microgrid at no cost to the airport in exchange for the required land and an agreement to purchase the electricity for 20 years. The microgrid was completed in July 2021, making Pittsburgh the first airport in the world to receive its electricity entirely from a microgrid. The microgrid uses natural gas from

4704-400: The airport handled almost 21 million passengers, more than any previous year. By the late 1990s growth had leveled off, with USAir concentrating on expanding at Philadelphia and Charlotte/Douglas International Airport , which had been a hub airport of Piedmont Airlines . In August 2001, the airport had its busiest month ever with 2 million passengers and an average of 633 daily flights, and

4802-461: The airport in recent years, overtaking American Airlines (which US Airways merged with) as the largest carrier in terms of passengers. The airport is also a hub for regional carrier Southern Airways Express . Cargo operations have increased at the airport in recent years. In 2017, the airport became the first in the country to reopen access to the post-security terminal for individuals who are not flying, as long as they can pass through security, after

4900-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

4998-399: The airport since 2006. Its current lease will continue until 2028. Through the first 11 months of 2021, FedEx accounted for 50% of all cargo traffic at the airport, followed by UPS at 33% and Amazon Air at 5%. +mail (lbs.) The airport has been the venue for a number of miscellaneous events. The U.S. Air Force has held several air shows at the airport. In 1991, over 40,000 people packed

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5096-934: The airport to greet the Pittsburgh Penguins when they landed at the airport after winning their first Stanley Cup championship. IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

5194-409: The airport was initially served by five airlines and became a small hub for Trans World Airlines for over two decades. The airport underwent a massive $ 1 billion rebuilding and expansion which was largely designed to US Airways ' specification so it could become one of their major hubs. Completed in 1992, the new airport was one of the most innovative in the world, dubbed the "airport of the future" by

5292-451: The airport's expansive tarmac. As airline travel rebounded, airlines added or expanded service at PIT. In July 2021, Breeze Airways began nonstop service to four cities and has since expanded to 10 destinations. In October 2021, Sun Country Airlines announced it would enter the Pittsburgh market with service to its hub at Minneapolis/St. Paul . In February 2024, monthly passenger counts at the airport surpassed pre-pandemic travel levels for

5390-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

5488-565: The airport, but it was closed to non-travelers after 9/11. In 2017, the AirMall was reopened to non-travelers who obtained a free access pass from the airport, however this access is temporarily suspended. PIT is located at Exit 53 of Interstate 376 and the Western Terminus Pennsylvania Route 576 (future I-576), and within 10 miles (20 km) of Interstate 79 and 15 miles (24 km) of Interstate 76 ,

5586-600: The airport. The Pittsburgh Light Rail currently does not stop at the airport. Pittsburgh International Airport has a sizeable freight business, with a Free-trade zone of 5,000 acres (20 km), access to three class-one railroad freight lines, one interstate highway, and a location a few miles from the nation's second largest inland port and within 500 miles of 80% of the nation's population. Four cargo buildings provide more than 183,000 square feet (17,001 m) of warehouse capacity and over 450,000 square feet (41,806 m) of apron space. The airport has begun construction on

5684-405: The borough was 91.32% White , 5.57% African American , 0.08% Native American , 1.23% Asian , 0.05% Pacific Islander , 0.39% from other races , and 1.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.99% of the population. There were 3,967 households, out of which 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.4% were married couples living together, 13.2% had

5782-502: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

5880-480: The costs. Until the beginning of World War II, Moon Township was mostly a rural agricultural area. It was not considered a suburb of downtown Pittsburgh as it was too distant. It was served solely by Pittsburgh-based state and federal services and media. In the early 1920s, John A. Bell of Carnegie purchased a number of small farms in Moon and established a commercial dairy farm on his 1,900 acres (8 km) of land. He

5978-519: The dedication of the first customs office at the complex. Ground was broken for the International Wing, west of the original terminal building, in 1970. It opened in 1972 to accommodate federal inspection services; international flights (Nordair 737s to Canada) began in 1971. The airport expanded as load increased. In 1972, rotundas were added to the end of each dock to allow more gates. In the later 1970s growth in regional air travel created

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6076-399: The door for other airlines to expand operations and better serve local Pittsburgh-area passengers rather than focus on connecting passengers. The airport experienced a resurgence in the 2010s, doubling the number of carriers to 16 as the Allegheny County Airport Authority has aggressively courted airlines and lobbied for new passenger routes. Southwest Airlines has increased its presence at

6174-593: The enclosed moving walkway and have 8,000 spaces available. Bus service is also available from Downtown Pittsburgh and the city's University District (Oakland) via the Port Authority of Allegheny County 's 28X Route. Mountain Line Transit 's Grey Line also has service to areas south of Pittsburgh including Waynesburg, Pennsylvania ; Morgantown , Fairmont , and Clarksburg , West Virginia. BCTA Transit formerly served locations north and westbound from

6272-399: The end of 2005 the airline had eliminated 7,000 jobs while operating roughly 200 flights per day, mostly domestic. A year later, US Airways had only about 170 flights per day to and from Pittsburgh, most being domestic flights. Unrelenting flight and job cuts continued through the decade; accompanied by the airline's closure of Concourse E on the Landside Terminal and a portion of Concourse A on

6370-886: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

6468-423: The federal government lifted restrictions put in place after 9/11 . In 2021, the airport became the first in the world with its own microgrid , which provides power to the entire airport with natural gas and solar power . The airport is currently undergoing a $ 1.39 billion renovation which will include a new terminal for check-in, security, and baggage claim adjacent to the gates. The renovation will eliminate

6566-413: 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 be an observation deck. In addition to the observation decks, the rounded "Horizon Room" was on the fourth floor with a commanding view of the airport. The interior of the terminal building was in the contemporary International Style , as

6664-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

6762-470: The first time. Later that year, in June, the TSA recorded 970,000 travelers through the checkpoint, the highest count since 2005. In September 2017, Allegheny County Airport Authority officials announced a $ 1.1 billion plan to renovate and reconfigure the terminal complex, including a new landside terminal and a new parking garage. Under the proposal, the current landside building would be demolished if another use

6860-478: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

6958-597: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

7056-483: The hotel and the gas station draw power from the airport's microgrid. American Airlines still has a maintenance base at Pittsburgh, which dates back to the US Air days and employs 500 people. American Airlines maintains and repairs all its Airbus narrowbody fleet at Pittsburgh. In 2021, it extended its lease at the airport for five years. Republic Airways has also operated a maintenance and repair operations base at

7154-487: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

7252-449: The largest figure since 2004 and a 30% increase over 2020. The world's leading caterer for air and business, LSG SkyChefs , in 2007 chose Pittsburgh as its sole Western Hemisphere manufacturing facility. It expanded its customer service center on the cargo side of the airport by 20,000 square feet (1,900 m) and now employs over 100 people with the capacity of making nearly 25 million meals per year for distribution to flights all over

7350-543: The market, creating more choices for local passengers. Pittsburgh has also been successful in attracting airlines to serve the region for the first time or to return to the market. Allegiant Air commenced service in February 2015 and established a base of operations later that year. Frontier Airlines re-entered the Pittsburgh airport in 2016 after a four-year absence. Spirit Airlines commenced service to seven destinations in 2017. Alaska Airlines began service in 2019 with

7448-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

7546-483: The need for connecting passengers to go through security more than once. The airport was equipped to handle up to 35 million passengers per year. The modern and innovative Pittsburgh airport became a model for other airports around the world. Its design simplified aircraft movement on the airfield and enabled easy pedestrian traffic to the gates. US Air expanded with the new airport, and by 1995 they had nonstops from PIT to 91 airports, plus 28 more on USAir Express. In 1997

7644-401: The need for the tram and increase the number of parking spaces. Officials emphasized that the renovations would make the airport more suited to Pittsburgh, rather than to US Airways. First announced in 2017 and delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic , the renovation resumed in 2021 and is now projected to open in 2025. The project will not use any local tax dollars, and airlines will pay most of

7742-637: The new facility, and it will be instead financed with floating bonds, grants, passenger facility charges, and revenue from natural gas drilling on airport property. Construction was originally expected to begin in summer 2020 and the new terminal was slated to open in 2023. However, in April 2020 airport officials decided to delay the selling of bonds and start of construction due to the coronavirus pandemic. In February 2021, airport officials announced early site and construction work would begin in spring 2021 with an increased budget of $ 1.39 billion. The airlines serving

7840-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

7938-423: The primary arrival runway, 10R is the secondary arrival runway, while 10C is the departure runway. The airport complex consists of two main buildings, the "Landside Terminal" and the "Airside Terminal". The terminal consists of 75 gates on four concourses; however, only 56 gates are available for use. After passing through the security checkpoint, passengers board one of two underground people movers that travel to

8036-497: The rest of the airport. Pittsburgh's air traffic bottomed out in 2013 with 7.8 million passengers and 36 destinations. Despite de-hubbing the airport, US Airways chose Pittsburgh in 2008 for their systemwide flight operations control center, after a bidding war with Charlotte and Phoenix led to state and local subsidies totaling $ 16.25 million being offered to US Air to build the center at Pittsburgh. The center worked on emergency operations for US Airways Flight 1549 after it landed in

8134-506: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

8232-485: The service unprofitable. In May 1985, British Airways started a link to London's Heathrow Airport via Washington, D.C., using Boeing 747s. Two days before the maiden flight, the airline had sent one of its Concordes to Pittsburgh to celebrate the launch of the route. In 1987, with the financial backing of USAir (then the dominant carrier in Pittsburgh), work commenced on a billion-dollar expansion. USAir inaugurated

8330-500: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

8428-515: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

8526-595: The use of boarding passes at TSA security checkpoints in favor of a stronger system that verifies passengers based solely on a government-issued ID. Due to financial difficulties, Wow Air left Pittsburgh in January 2019. Three months later, British Airways began service to London-Heathrow aboard a Boeing 787. As airlines grounded planes in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pittsburgh airport allowed American Airlines and Republic Airways to park nearly 100 planes on

8624-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

8722-413: Was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.0 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $ 32,589, and the median income for a family was $ 41,371. Males had a median income of $ 30,792 versus $ 26,239 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $ 21,119. About 9.7% of families and 11.5% of the population were below

8820-451: Was an important pillar of the Pittsburgh economy. However, the downturn in air travel immediately after September 11 attacks badly harmed US Airways' financial state. US Air declared chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in a row, and abandoned Pittsburgh as a hub in 2004, eliminating thousands of jobs and nearly bankrupting the airport itself, which was built largely to suit US Airways' needs. However, US Air's diminished capacity at Pittsburgh opened

8918-538: Was bought out by E.E. Rieck and his wife, and C.F. Nettrour, owners of the established Rieck's Dairy. They doubled the number of cattle at the farm. Around 1940, the federal government, through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), determined 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 administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

9016-543: Was built entirely 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 31 May 1952. The first flight was on 3 June 1952. In its first full year of operation in 1953, more than 1.4 million passengers used the terminal. "Greater Pitt" was then considered modern and spacious. The airport terminal

9114-577: Was continuing to invest in infrastructure across the country in the waning years of the Great Depression , before the US entered World War II, which had started in 1939. The agricultural expanses of Moon Township were attractive to airport planners in the city. The Civil Aeronautics Administration proposed $ 2.6 million to the county for a $ 6 million field in August 1941 ($ 53.9 million and $ 124 million present day dollars). The county bought

9212-452: Was not very successful at first as Qatar failed to meet tonnage goals, and in December 2019 the route was suspended. However, Qatar resumed the flight in 2020 without any subsidies, and as of 2022 had increased operations to 3-4 flights per week. Several new cargo carriers began service to Pittsburgh in 2020 and 2021, including Cathay Pacific , SpiceXpress , and Amazon Air . In 2021, nearly 250 million pounds of cargo goods touched down at PIT,

9310-564: Was on track for 2001 to be its busiest year ever. Then the September 11 attacks harmed the aviation industry, and US Air in particular, setting in motion the decline of Pittsburgh as a hub. US Air began slashing jobs a week after the attacks and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2002. High operating costs at the airport put the US Airways hub in Pittsburgh at a serious disadvantage. By 2003, US Airways reported to be running

9408-419: Was the exterior. One of the memorable features of the lobby was the large compass laid in the floor with green and yellow-orange terrazzo. A mobile by Alexander Calder was another decorative feature of the lobby. The mobile hangs in the center core of the new airside terminal. 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

9506-527: Was the first airport (since 9/11) in the nation to allow non-passengers to pass through security to dine and shop in a post-security terminal. Participants can sign up for myPITpass on the airport's website and must pass through the alternate security checkpoint before continuing through to the Airmall in the airside terminal. The airport became one of the first in the United States to use a new TSA system called Credential Authentication Technology, which phases out

9604-481: Was the largest in the United States, second only to Idlewild Airport's (now JFK Airport) in New York when it was completed five years later. The airport's capacity is one of its most valuable assets. The airport was designed by local architect Joseph W. Hoover. One of the features of his style is the use of simple, exposed concrete, steel, and glass materials. The terminal building was constructed in "stepped" levels:

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