PIT Airport

Pittsburgh Airport getting a swank makeover

Airport Terminals, Architecture, , ,

Pittsburgh International Airport is getting a $1.1 billion makeover that includes a new terminal with 51-gates, a modern check-in concourse and a new bag-claim system.

The pictures look so appealing that when the new terminal opens in 2023, they may have to seriously consider trading in the PIT airport code for something, well, prettier.

The new airport terminal will be built next to PIT’s current airside facility, between Concourses C and D, and is designed by award-winning architect Luis Vidal, who designed Heathrow Airport’s T2, and by San Francisco-based Gensler.

While some things may change as the project gets underway, airport officials say the new terminal building will have an emphasis on sustainability, with both indoor and outdoor green plazas and gathering spaces.

The new terminal brings together check-in, ticketing, security and baggage operations into one facility, with a separate level for departing and arriving passengers. There will also be an expanded TSA checkpoint, shorter walking distances and additional space for artwork, concessions and other amenities.

“This new terminal, inspired by the beauty, tech renaissance and people of our region will integrate seamlessly into the great design of the existing Airside Terminal,” said Airport Authority CEO Christina Cassotis. “In considering this design, we looked at function first, then form, to construct a building that will be both iconic, practical and affordable and that can be easily adapted as the technology and transportation needs of our community change.”

Let’s just hope PIT keeps the dinosaur, the Calder mobile, the shrine to Mister Rogers and the other amenities that make PIT a bit quirky and endearing.

(All photos courtesy of Pittsburgh International Airport)

Fresh art & culture at Pittsburgh Int’l Airport

Art, Exhibits, ,

Just in time for holiday travel, Pittsburgh International Airport has installed about a dozen new art and cultural exhibits – and fun stuff for kids – in the terminal.

New displays include:

Three new installations from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh in Kidsport in Concourse C;

 

Rotating items from current and upcoming fine art and fashion exhibitions at The Frick Pittsburgh in Concourse B

 

 

Two installations from Carnegie Mellon University – EarthTime in Concourse D and IntraFace in Concourse C

  • The Innovation Studio at Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh’s Cabinet of Curiosities in Concourse A;
  • Trashbot recycling installations near the Airside food court area and at Starbuck’s in Baggage Claim; and a display about innovation and entrepreneurship from Innovation Works in Concourse C;
  • A wall wrap with socioeconomic and demographic data that represents Pittsburgh from Pittsburgh Today.

 

 

Pittsburgh International or (Mister) Fred Rogers Int’l Airport?

History, , , , ,

There’s a petition out there to change the name of Pittsburgh International Airport to Fred Rogers International Airport.

Where would you weigh in?

Fred Rogers grew up near Pittsburgh and for 33 years episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the beloved children’s television show he and his red sweater starred in, were produced at Pittsburgh’s public TV station, WQED.

A special gallery at Pittsburgh’s Heinz History Center displays artifacts from the show, including Rogers’ iconic sweater, necktie, khakis, sneakers and the living room set he entered at the beginning of each show.  There’s also a recently refreshed exhibit dedicated to Rogers on Concourse C at Pittsburgh International Airport.

But that isn’t enough for Ian Miller, a Pittsburgh citizen who last week started a change.org petition asking that the name of Pittsburgh International Airport be changed to Fred Rogers International Airport.

“Fred Rogers, a television pioneer and children’s entertainer, shared Pittsburgh’s sense of community with the world through his PBS show,” Miller writes in his petition, “Pittsburgh is still an active transit hub and, for many people, our airport will be their first experience in Pittsburgh. We wish to welcome everybody to our neighborhood.”

The petition has over 11,000 signatures so far.

And while Allegheny County Airport Authority, which manages Pittsburgh International, appreciates Miller’s enthusiasm and agrees “Fred Rogers occupies a special place in the hearts of Pittsburghers and people around the world,” said airport spokesman Bob Kerlik, it seems unlikely the airport’s name will be changed.

“In 2016, we completed a rebranding of the airport to better match the ongoing renaissance of the Pittsburgh region,” said Kerlik, “And at this time our focus is on continuing to advance ‘Pittsburgh International Airport’ as a global aviation leader.”

Naming – or renaming – an airport after a celebrity with a local connection isn’t unheard of in the United States.

In Santa Rosa, CA, for example, passengers land and take-off from the Charles M. Schulz -Sonoma County Airport. In Louisiana, the major airport is the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. John Wayne Airport serves Orange County, CA and the Will Rogers World Airport provides air service to Oklahoma City, OK.

 

Oklahoma City Airport

And while it has recently been rebranded as Hollywood Burbank Airport, the official name of the airfield about 12 miles north of downtown Los Angeles is still legally Bob Hope Airport.

 

Souvenir Sunday: Open House at PIT Airport

family travel, Shopping,

pit-airport-santa

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to get going on that holiday shopping list.

And for the third year in a row, Pittsburgh International Airport will be doing its part by hosting a one-day Holiday Open House – on Saturday, December 3 – where the general public gets access to all the post-security airport shops.

The airport updated and upgraded its mix of local and high-end retail shops and restaurants not too long ago with the likes of Martini, Vino Volo, Strip Market, Armani Jeans, Hugo Boss, Harley Davidson and Sportzburgh and on December 3 will have an on-site Santa, music, free parking and a wide variety of retail and dining specials.

It’s a great event for locals, of course, but a reminder for anyone passing through PIT Airport to check out the shops anytime. Especially because in Pennsylvania there’s no tax on most clothing – and shoes.

Registration details for the Open House and a list of specials for the day are here.

pit-kidsport

And next time you’re at PIT Airport, make your way over to Concourse C, where there’s a new and improved Kidsport as well.

 

 

 

 

Does PIT Airport need a robot repair shop?

Art, , ,

A kickstarter crowd funding campaign is underway to bring a robot repair shop to Pittsburgh International Airport.

PIT Robot logo

It’s not to help out all the PIT passengers who break their robots in transit. It’s to give a new home to a popular public art installation that was once in downtown Pittsburgh.

Toby Atticus Fraley’s original Robot Repair Shop was an 18-month art pop-up shop that depicted a fictitious business described as looking as if the owners left for vacation, “leaving robots in various stages of repair, including one peering through the store windows longing for life in the outside world.”

PIT ROBOT REPAIR PHOTO

If funding to reconstitute the Robot Repair Shop is secured, the new installation will look much like original shop but will be three times the size and located at the airport on Concourse A near Southwest Airlines gate A15.

Want to help bring this odd, charming art project to PIT?

Visit the Robot Repair Shop website and kick in a few bucks to help the ‘shop’ open by September 2015. Thank-you gifts for pledges include logo stickers, note cards, branded pencils, buttons, t-shirts, a cool pilot-like metal wings pin, coffee mugs, a special edition Viewmaster and more robot repair-themed stuff.