Pittsburgh International Airport (litigation, legal, retirement)

[PITairport]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Agree it's included in the published fare, but it's still a separate fee that you can see in the ticket breakdown ...

I believe you are thinking about the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), which is $4.50 universally at all airports that collect them. It is separate from what we are discussing here.

[dbr56]

A top 10 "medium sized" airport per J.D. Powers
JDPower - PIT

Air traffic up significantly and apparently building momentum
PASSENGER TRAFFIC SURGES 7 PERCENT IN NOVEMBER AS PASSENGERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MORE NONSTOP OPTIONS - PIT

non stop destinations has grown to 52 from the mid-30s just a couple years ago.

Service to Paris increasing again.

Five new airlines

Legacy, discount and ultra discount all represented.

Significant renovation to all areas of the airport.

Yet folks get on here and other sites and claim the place is run down, a ghost town, can't get anywhere, dying, etc.

PIT was blindsided by USAir. Left holding incredible debt. An airport that had little airline presence other than USAir. Was on the front-end of the wave of lost-hub-status so there was very little in the way of models to follow to re-position. One of the most expensive airports to fly in and out of for airlines and consumers.

From all of that to today - a remarkable turn around and by all appearances this is the front edge of PIT finding its place in the market. I have no doubt that there will be significant growth in all areas over the next 5 years. I also have no doubt that people will still be complaining.

[Moby Hick]

PIT still lacks the most important thing for an airport. No direct connection to Omaha.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by dbr56

I have no doubt that there will be significant growth in all areas over the next 5 years. I also have no doubt that people will still be complaining.

the pittsburgh region, in a nutshell

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by dbr56

PIT was blindsided by USAir. Left holding incredible debt. An airport that had little airline presence other than USAir. Was on the front-end of the wave of lost-hub-status so there was very little in the way of models to follow to re-position. One of the most expensive airports to fly in and out of for airlines and consumers.

From all of that to today - a remarkable turn around and by all appearances this is the front edge of PIT finding its place in the market. I have no doubt that there will be significant growth in all areas over the next 5 years. I also have no doubt that people will still be complaining.

Hardly "blindsided". Airlines go out of business from time to time, its part of the nature of the industry- Pan Am, Eastern, TWA, People's Express are among those airlines that went belly up. Part of the industry, which is so heavily financed.

It was unfortunate, but not totally unforeseeable, even if no one looked at US Air's books

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Hardly "blindsided". Airlines go out of business from time to time, its part of the nature of the industry- Pan Am, Eastern, TWA, People's Express are among those airlines that went belly up. Part of the industry, which is so heavily financed.

It was unfortunate, but not totally unforeseeable, even if no one looked at US Air's books

It does happen, but I really don't think that taking ten years to pay down the debt and recover from that financially is in any way bad performance from the airport.

[MamieRose]

Agree that PIT is much improved over the past few years, both in appearance/amenities and in flight availability/cost.

We used to live in the middle of nowhere and had to drive 3+ hours to a good airport. We always chose PHL and EWR over PIT due to both cost and length of flights. It used to be that we couldn't reach our favorite Caribbean destination in one day from PIT.

Since we've moved here, we have been able to get to where we want to go for what we were paying before...and without the hassle of a long drive. This includes our fav island in one day.

We're not huge travelers but typically fly 5-7 times per year.

[dbr56]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Hardly "blindsided". Airlines go out of business from time to time, its part of the nature of the industry- Pan Am, Eastern, TWA, People's Express are among those airlines that went belly up. Part of the industry, which is so heavily financed.

It was unfortunate, but not totally unforeseeable, even if no one looked at US Air's books

I would say getting notice on virtually the last day of the bankruptcy proceedings equals being blindsided.

[Geeo]

Yes, USAir was going through its bankruptcy and canceled their leases with the airport at the very end and without any notice or heads-up to the county. That was not expected. Planning for the new airport started in the early to mid-1980s because USAir was bursting at the seams at the old airport and was clamoring for a new and efficient facility.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

It does happen, but I really don't think that taking ten years to pay down the debt and recover from that financially is in any way bad performance from the airport.

It's taking 25 years to pay down the debt, and probably worth remembering that us air tried to get the airport to lower it's fees
Pittsburgh International Airport works to reduce costs to attract airlines post-consolidation | CAPA - Centre for Aviation

The expansion turned out to be an unmitigated disaster but the drag is finally dissipating in part due to casino funds and actual retirement of debt.