Pittsburgh International Airport

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{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 220px; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Pittsburgh International Airport |- |align="center" colspan="4"|

|- !colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Runways |- !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Direction !bgcolor="lightgrey" colspan="2"|Length !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Surface |- !bgcolor="lightgrey"|ft !bgcolor="lightgrey"|m |- !align="left" valign="top"|10R/28L |valign="top" align="right"|11,500 |valign="top" align="right"|3,505 |valign="top"|Concrete |- !align="left" valign="top"|10L/28R |valign="top" align="right"|10,502 |valign="top" align="right"|3,201 |valign="top"|Asphalt/Concrete |- !align="left" valign="top"|10C/28C |valign="top" align="right"|9,708 |valign="top" align="right"|2,959 |valign="top"|Asphalt/Concrete |- !align="left" valign="top"|14/32 |valign="top" align="right"|8,101 |valign="top" align="right"|2,469 |valign="top"|Concrete |- !colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Helipads |- !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Number !bgcolor="lightgrey" colspan="2"|Size !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Surface |- !bgcolor="lightgrey"|ft !bgcolor="lightgrey"|m |- !align="left" valign="top"|H1 |valign="top" align="right"|60 |valign="top" align="right"|18 |valign="top"|Concrete

Pittsburgh International Airport is situated in the Pittsburgh suburb of Findlay Township at the future intersection of I-376 and I-576, with portions of the airport located in Moon Township. It has been a focus city for US Airways, and until 2005 was one of the airline's primary hubs. The airport now retains the title of being US Airways's largest secondary hub.

Pittsburgh is regularly ranked as one of the top three airports in the world by Condé Nast, J.D. Power, USA Today, Travelocity and the Official Airline Guide in categories spanning checkpoint wait times, best airports to layover at, customer service, terminal retail outlets, as well as overall experience [link]. Based upon operations and customer satisfaction of customers using Pittsburgh International Airport, J.D. Power has named it the best airport in the United States and the second best in the world, behind only Singapore Changi Airport.

Scope

Pittsburgh International Airport occupies over 12,900 acres (45 km²), making it the fourth largest airport in the nation[link]. It is so large that both Chicago's O'Hare and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson could comfortably fit within the airport's land area, with room to spare. Pittsburgh International is within three hours flying time of all locations east of the Mississippi River and within one hour of any location in the northeast or eastern Mid-West. 65% of Americans are within just a two and a half hour flight of the facility. It is served by over 20 commercial carriers with 119 non-stop destinations averaging 580 commercial carrier flights per day. In the average year, the airport serves 20 million passengers, however, with US Airways' de-hubbing of the airport, it remains to be seen whether or not this figure will stand.

The airport's nine cargo carries account for over 200 million lbs (90 million kg) of freight per year [see Web site]. Three cargo buildings provide more than 183,000 sq ft (17,000 m²) of warehouse capacity and over 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m²) of apron space. The complex also serves as the headquarters for two Air Force units and the home base for the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. Pittsburgh International hosts an average of 20 military flight operations per day in its role as host to the region's defense center.

Innovations

Besides consistently being ranked by numerous sources as one of the best airports in the world, Pittsburgh International has also been the first in the world in several key innovations. It was the first airport to offer free Wi-Fi throughout its passenger terminal [link], one of the first to deploy dozens of portable defibrillators [link], is slated to be the first "Joint Readiness Center" [link], and has the first volunteer ambassador program. Unfortunately, the open access Wi-Fi network has led to the airport being used for a number of hacking attempts, as it is generally impossible to locate the originator in the sizeable airport network. The airmall at the airport is often cited as one of the first featuring fair "street prices", as well as the first airport to have two Xpress Spas in its retail area. Despite the good intentions this only holds true for the retail stores, as prices for dining options are more in line with what would be expected at airports. The innovations don't end at safety, customer service or shopping for Pittsburgh, electronic parking also serves as a national first for the airport [link]. Pittsburgh also was the very first airport to offer fare alert emails.

Passenger complex

The commercial side of the complex has three main terminal buildings housing five terminals (all connected by subway or peoplemover), 100 commercial gates with over 100 retail shops in the "Airmall" and a Hyatt Regency hotel. Both the landside and midfield terminals have been used as a model to other airports in efficiency, it is possible for a traveler to only take only a few steps to travel more then half a mile from parking to airplane [link] and for airlines the revolutionary airside design of the complex makes Pittsburgh one of the nation's "best gateways". The airport uses one large passenger screening area which connects to an automated underground tram system which ferries passengers to the intersection of terminals A, B, C, and D. The original design of the air-side terminals included a large amount of retail and restaurant space. The name "Airmall" conveyed the intent to blend the airport with a shopping mall.

Air Force

Since its inception in the 1940's Pittsburgh International has served a second purpose as an important regional center for the U.S. Air Force. It currently hosts the Air Force Reserve Base that is headquarters to both the 911th Airlift Wing and the 171st Air Refueling Wing on its southeastern side. In its military role it has long been the headquarters for the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, as well as its largest base of operations. Although the Air Reserve and Air National Guard maintain a great presence on that corner of the complex, the shuttering of some of the Air Force facilities in recent decades has led to the growth of a new tennant for that equipment at Pittsburgh. The FAA has taken over much of the excess infrastructure that the Air Guard and Reserve does not need, making Pittsburgh recently an important regional center for the agency. Pittsburgh's military heritage is also rekindled each summer as the complex hosts one of the largest air shows on the east coast, "Wings over Pittsburgh". Roughly 200,000 spectators attended the two-day show in 2005.

Runways

Pittsburgh's blessing of size provides enough land for four massive runways (the shortest being 8,100 feet (2469 m), the longest being just shy of 12,000 feet (3658 m) long) with room for at least two additional runways if needed. The terminal complex has also been built with the idea of easy additions of more than two dozen gates to easily accommodate any expansions in the number of runways for the airport. The Air National Guard and the two Air Force Reserve companies also have the option of several acres as well as a possible runway for any expansion that may be necessary for their role.

Terminals

Concourse A

• Southwest Airlines - Gates A1 & A3 (Chicago-Midway, Las Vegas, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Tampa)
• US Airways - Gates A2, A4-A25
• * US Airways Express operated by Air Midwest (Dubois, Franklin, Hagerstown, Lancaster, Lewisburg, Watertown)
• * US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin (Albany, Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Chicago-O'Hare, Erie, Hartford/Springfield, Newark, New York-LaGuardia, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, St. Louis, Toronto, Washington-Reagan, White Plains)
• * US Airways Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines (Columbus, Harrisburg, Hartford/Springfield, Philadelphia, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre)

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