Gallery: Inside Pittsburgh Airport's Terminal Modernization

Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) is midway through its terminal modernization program, which aims to reduce operational costs and improve passenger experience as the airport grows well beyond its former life as a hub built for US Airways. ATW toured construction progress to get a behind-the-scenes look at the $1.57 billion project.

The new landside terminal is on schedule to open in the third or fourth quarter of 2025. The structural steel, building envelope and roof have been completed, as well as the garage and surrounding roadways. Work has moved to interior construction, such as installation of escalators, elevators and other features.

The new parking garage and rental car center are being built above the underground train that currently takes passengers the half-mile from the old PIT landside terminal (pictured in the distance) to the airside terminal. PIT is considering the possibility of running autonomous shuttles between the parking areas and the terminal.

According to a spokesperson for PIT, the new terminal has been designed to offer improved intuitiveness for passengers navigating the space, making it easier to find check-in desks, security checkpoints and baggage claims. “People are usually pretty stressed when they travel,” Allegheny County Airport Authority CEO Christina Cassotis said.

The terminal incorporates several design features meant to reflect the natural attributes of the Pittsburgh area’s landscape and history.

The nature-inspired features will continue outside with landscape terraces featuring vegetation that will be watered using captured stormwater. These terraces will also offer pet relief areas.

Following a summer surge in TSA wait times, PIT hopes the new terminal’s security checkpoint will provide some relief. The airport has invested in new TSA equipment and will expand to 11 security lanes from seven, including the addition of a family lane.

Once passengers clear security, they will simply need to walk through this pedestrian bridge to the airside terminal instead of taking a train half a mile. The design of the bridge was inspired by Pittsburgh’s famous Fort Pitt tunnel, which opens up to a full view of the city’s downtown skyline. 

Past the connector bridge, passengers will go down a level to enter the airside terminal. The design is aimed at eliminating cross traffic between arriving and departing passengers to alleviate congestion.

Arriving passengers will pass through this ground-level space that is open to the check-in area on the second level. This area will feature art commissioned from local artists.

The shorter distance between the new landside terminal and airside terminal is expected to save around $18 million a year in operations and maintenance costs. In addition to eliminating the need to maintain the passenger train, PIT is reducing the length of its baggage belts from 8 mi. to 4 mi.

Visible in yellow are baggage carousels located underneath the check-in area. The system is already being tested. Once construction is complete, Cassotis says PIT will spend four months testing and commissioning everything in the new terminal.