Pittsburgh's new $1.7 billion terminal will open before Thanksgiving
The transformation of Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) is nearly complete.
PIT's $1.7 billion new terminal is set to open by early November, just in time for the Thanksgiving and year-end holiday rush. The structure is the culmination of more than a decade of work and four years of construction to transform the former US Airways hub into an airport designed and sized to fit the needs of the local community.
And the building designed by Gensler, HDR and Luis Vidal + Architects impresses too.
"It's been a lot of work to get here," said Christina Cassotis, CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority which operates PIT, at a ribbon cutting on Saturday.
"Being in this space feels good," she continued. "And that's a pretty big statement for an airport to make."
(TPG is getting its own tour on Monday, so be sure to check back on Monday afternoon for a thorough first look.)
Bargain hunting: When is the best time to book flights for the cheapest airfare?
Reimagining a hub
US Airways was once the driving force in Pittsburgh. It was joked that the sun rose and set for the airline in the Steel City.
But in May 2004, a struggling US Airways, beset with high costs, saw the debt service associated with the 1992 terminal PIT built especially for the airline as more of a hindrance than a benefit and chose to close its hub.
US Airways, today part of American Airlines, flights dropped from as many as 380 daily departures from PIT in May 2004 to as few as 143 by December, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows. And the cuts continued in subsequent years.
While at first airport executives talked about landing a new hub, PIT's hub loss proved a harbinger for similarly sized cities in the wave of airline consolidation from 2005 through 2013. American closed its hub at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), Delta Air Lines did the same at its hubs at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) and Memphis International Airport (MEM), and United Airlines closed its hub at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) during the same stretch.
PIT, in the years following US Airways' downsizing, was faced with the question of what to do with a terminal complex designed for as many as 30 million annual passengers at an airport that saw only 9.9 million passengers in 2024.
Airlines, for their part, are growing at PIT. This year, American resumed flights to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) after a nearly eight-year hiatus, and JetBlue Airways flights to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) returned after ending in 2021 and 2013, respectively, Cirium schedules show.
And in June 2026, Southwest Airlines will add new service to Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport (VPS) on the Florida Panhandle, and add two more daily flights for a total of six a day to Orlando International Airport (MCO) from PIT.
But, even with these additions, PIT remains significantly smaller than it was 20 years ago — its hub status a memory of a bygone era.
Modernized down-sizing
The new terminal is a two-fold answer for PIT. First, it shrinks the airport's footprint from a separate terminal and X-shaped concourse with 75 gates into a single structure with just 63 gates. The project keeps the concourse by nestling the new terminal where travelers check in and clear security into the former alley between Concourses C and D.
The old terminal and underground train that connects it to the concourse will be closed.
Second, it creates a new, modern experience for departing and arriving travelers that is designed to uplift travelers through the use of ample natural light and design features reminiscent of the rolling western Pennsylvania landscape.
Departing travelers enter a grand hall with clear lines of sight to either their airline's ticket counter or security — marked in capitalized, sans-serif font "TO ALL GATES" at the rear of the hall.
"The results are stunning," Cassotis said of the design.
And while she would not share an exact date for when the terminal will open — PIT still needs to conduct another trial of the security and baggage equipment — Cassotis did promise it would be open "several weeks" before Thanksgiving.
Related reading: