Pittsburgh International Airport has unveiled its five-year strategy, the ‘Smart Plan Forward’.
The new strategy will focus on air service development, and safety and security, as well as smarter technology, smarter development, smarter cargo, a smarter workforce and a smarter terminal.
Speaking at the 5th annual State of the Airport event, Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO Christina Cassotis credited the community for the airport’s past five years of progress, and said the plan for the next five is even more ambitious.
A cornerstone of the plan is the billion-dollar Terminal Modernization Program, unveiled two years ago and slated to break ground this spring. Chief development officer Paul Hoback unveiled updated renderings and a video of the project at the same event.
“As we design and build the new Pittsburgh International Airport, we are writing our own story, and isn’t it wonderful that we get to be the authors this time?” Hoback said. “This will be an airport built for Pittsburgh and by Pittsburgh, not an airport built for a single airline.”
Other key projects in the Smart Plan Forward include Neighborhood 91 as part of the development initiative. Neighborhood 91 is part of the airport’s 195-acre (79ha) Innovation Campus, which will connect and condense all parts of the additive manufacturing supply chain with the goal of becoming an epicenter for the industry.
“Our Smart Plan Forward is a five-year journey with innovative ways of working, inspiring people, and a clear destination: a Smarter Airport,” Cassotis said. “While our core business will always be air service, we can do so much more to support this community.”
And while the Smart Plan Forward and past successes are part of an aggressive strategy, according to Cassotis, it would not be possible without the community support and the ability to leverage the community’s talents and assets, including the Pittsburgh region’s own renaissance story.
