Sneak peek: Inside Pittsburgh’s brand-new $1.5 billion airport terminal

It’s out with the old and in with the 21st century at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).

That’s the strategy behind the major terminal redevelopment program underway at Pittsburgh’s once-bustling airport. The existing airport terminal, originally considered pretty revolutionary when it opened in 1992, is just a shadow of what it once was, at least, in terms of destinations served.

Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)’s current structure was designed primarily for hub operations. At the time, USAir (later rebranded as US Airways) had built Pittsburgh into one of its major bases. From PIT, US Airways could fly passengers to cities as far as Frankfurt and as close as Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

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But US Airways dehubbed the airport in 2004, and that hub status is “never coming back, ever,” Christina Cassotis, CEO of airport operator Allegheny County Airport Authority, told TPG in an interview. (Nowadays, PIT is served by 15 airlines with 62 nonstop destinations on more than 170 peak-day departures.)

With no future as a hub, PIT had a choice. It could keep its existing terminal structure with landside and airside operations split between two buildings connected by a nearly half-mile underground tunnel and people mover. Or, it could innovate and become what airport officials envision as one of the nicest and most passenger-friendly origin-and-destination airports across the country.

PIT chose the latter, and now we’re just about a year away from the opening of the Terminal Modernization Program. (Cassotis told TPG to expect a formal opening in the third quarter of 2025.)

The $1.57 billion TMP project includes an all-new headhouse that will serve as a centralized departures and arrivals hall, Pennsylvania’s largest single parking structure and much more.

There’s lots for passengers to get excited about, so join TPG on an exclusive tour of the TMP and read on for what travelers can expect once the work wraps up next year.

Centralized departures and arrivals hall

Assuming you’ve been to PIT before, you’ll likely do a double take when you arrive at the new departures area.

As you approach the new facility from the roadways, your eyes will likely be mesmerized by the glistening new terminal building.

Departing traffic will pull up to the third level of the structure, which has a large overhang ceiling to protect drop-offs from inclement weather. (This part of the TMP reminds me of the recently opened Kansas City International Airport (MCI) terminal.)

After getting dropped off at the terminal, there will be three entrance vestibules for departures. Once inside, airport designers are hoping passengers will be impressed by the soaring-high ceilings that are shaped like rolling hills and provide plenty of natural light.

Nature is one of the key design themes of the new terminal (along with technology and community), and it’ll also be on full display once you enter. Earthy wood tones will cover the ceiling finishes, and the lights will supposedly resemble a starry constellation at night.

Plus, the support beams that go from the ground to the ceiling are designed to resemble trees from the western Pennsylvania forest.

Note that passengers using ride-hailing services will be dropped off on Level 1 of the new facility, but there will be express escalators to funnel passengers directly to check-in.

All the flooring in the new terminal is terrazzo, eliminating the outdated tiling in the existing facility that wasn’t designed for the popularity of rollaboard bags.

While some new airports offer island-style check-in counters (like Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York City), PIT will stick with the traditional counter-style check-in setup.

Before heading to security, passengers will pass through the central atrium of the departures hall. This airy space spans both the departures and arrivals levels and will be demarcated by the 1958 sculpture by Alexander Calder that will be hung from the ceiling (and used to be displayed prominently in the old terminal).

Revamped security lanes

If you’ve recently passed through PIT in the morning, odds are you’ve waited in a security line. That’s because PIT was originally designed as a hub-and-spoke airport, with most passengers connecting in the facility post-security.

However, with the shift to an origin-and-destination model, PIT has been unable to keep up with the demand for security lanes.

Fortunately, the new terminal will have a single centralized security area with 11 lanes. This includes Clear, TSA PreCheck, family security, priority security and general screening.

The screening machines will be the latest models from Analogic (aka the famously slow blue machines.)

After clearing security, you’ll find a large regrouping area to recover your belongings (and composure).

Here, you’ll also see floor-to-ceiling glass windows with outdoor observation decks on each side. Building on the nature theme, PIT has plans for four total outdoor observation areas: two airside and two landside.

Though there won’t be much in the way of views from these decks, they should provide a relaxing retreat from the hustle and bustle of the airport itself.

Paul Hoback, PIT’s chief development officer, told TPG that once completed, these decks will be covered with grass, trees and other greenery.

No more people mover

The existing PIT layout with separate landside and airside buildings means that passengers need to take a people mover between the facilities.

However, the new departures and arrivals hall is being built adjacent to the airside terminal. So, instead of taking a people mover, it’ll be just a short walk through a tunnel (designed to resemble the city’s Fort Pitt Tunnel) to arrive at the airport’s central artery.

This will undoubtedly speed up travel times from curb to gate — by as much as 50%, according to Hoback — and also help increase the area available for concessionaires and retail stores. (In fact, PIT was once a revolutionary when it came to airside shopping. Before 9/11, the airport’s AirMall would even attract locals who weren’t flying.)

So far, PIT has shared the list of 15 new retailers and restaurants opening in the new terminal. More names are expected to be announced as leases are finalized closer to the grand opening.

Faster arrivals

Not only does the centralized terminal eliminate the people mover for departures, but it also speeds up arrival traffic flow. Going forward, passengers will simply descend a short escalator and walk directly to the arrivals curb.

According to Hoback, this setup will reduce the time it takes to move from international arrivals to curbside by 67%.

As PIT tried to design the facility for its community, the airport looked at the data that showed that it has a big meet-and-greet population (friends and family members who drive to the airport to pick up their loved ones). To accommodate these pickups and be a steward for the local population, the arrival area will feature a variety of concessions and two outdoor decks (similar to the airside ones discussed above).

On the arrivals level, there will be eight baggage claims, all connected by a singular back-of-house baggage transportation system.

This upgraded system is designed to move bags much more efficiently than the outdated one that PIT uses today.

An all-new parking structure

When PIT was a hub, the airport needed to optimize for connecting travelers who simply stopped in Pittsburgh on their way between two other cities. That meant parking structures for local traffic were largely an afterthought.

However, with the new PIT, parking became a central tenet of the redevelopment project, so much so that, according to Hoback, the new terminal will be home to the single-largest parking structure in Pennslyvania.

It’ll span five levels with 5,000 spaces. The rental car companies will be stationed on the first floor of the facility, eliminating the need to take a shuttle bus to a remote lot.

This new structure will be connected to the main terminal by a covered walkway, and it’ll feature triple the number of covered parking spaces compared to the existing structures.

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More upgrades coming to gates

While much of the focus is on the departure and arrival experience, modernizing the gate areas is also a key priority for Cassotis.

After all, “we don’t want The Jetsons to meet The Flintstones,” Cassotis said.

As part of the TMP project, the airport is renovating some of the gates, bathrooms and holdroom areas in the existing terminal.

That said, much of the flooring and layout will remain exactly as they were when US Airways had a hub there.

That’s not necessarily bad news since the airport’s X-shaped layout makes for a short walk to any gate. But once you pass through the new departures hall, the tall ceilings will give way to a facility that was designed for a bygone era.

Hopefully, PIT will continue improving the gate areas over the coming years.

Bottom line

The new Pittsburgh airport terminal can’t come soon enough. The airport is showing its age, especially now that it’s been more than 20 years since PIT was a hub for US Airways.

From the centralized security area to the soaring ceilings that flood the facility with tons of natural light, this terminal is a night-and-day difference from the existing one.

But the new terminal doesn’t just usher in a much-upgraded passenger experience. It also helps kick-start what PIT officials hope will be an era of the facility being one of the nation’s top midsize airports.

PIT has already been quite successful in courting new airlines, most notably British Airways to London and Icelandair to Reykjavik. Plus, it processed just shy of 10 million passengers last year.

Soon, it’ll also have a sleek, new terminal worthy of praise from airports nationwide. It’s the start of a new chapter for PIT, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what comes next.

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