International Airport Review Editor Holly Miles sat down with Christina Cassotis, winner of IAR’s Airport Leader of the Year in 2025, to discuss the new $1.7 billion terminal and how she is leading the airport with resilience in mind.
If you missed part 1 of the interview, you can read it here.
When Christina Cassotis arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) in 2015, many still viewed it through the lens of the hub that it had lost. A decade later, the airport has pioneered everything from on-site childcare facilities to microgrids to sustainable aviation fuel production and a terminal built for all travellers.
Christina opened the landmark $1.7 billion new terminal on 18 November 2025, the result of more than a decade of planning and four years of construction. The new terminal is viewed by the industry as setting new benchmarks in sustainability, experience and innovation. International Airport Review Editor, Holly Miles, recently met with the airport CEO to discuss the vision for the terminal and what this means for passengers.
An airport built for the local community
Christina said on opening the terminal that it was a “an airport built for Pittsburgh, by Pittsburgh.”
With air travel demand set to double by 2050, the number of travellers with special requirements will increase at Pittsburgh and other airports around the world.
According to Cassotis, the new terminal is designed with accessibility “from the very beginning, from the ground-up” because their mantra is that everyone deserves the right to travel, and they strive to be one of the most accessible airports in the world. It was this goal that saw the airport receive Universal Design Certification from the University at Buffalo’s Centre for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Centre) – the only airport to be awarded this so far.
“We all have an obligation to make physical infrastructure as accessible as possible. We built that into the project from day one, working with groups from across the region and specialists in sustainability, technology, accessibility and other areas.”
In each of the four concourses there are restrooms with universal changing tables, increased seating and rest options, raised crosswalks, accessible height ticketing counters, and improved wayfinding to create a more accessible experience.
The airport also runs a “We Got You” initiative, which is a cross-functional programme designed to assist travellers using people, technology and process. Volunteer ambassadors and customer service staff are equipped with hand-held devices to help passengers more quickly.
For passengers with autism or sensory sensitivities, Presley’s Place is a sensory room located in Concourse A, where they can escape the noisy airport environment and relax.
For mothers, the airport also features two nursing rooms stocked with healthy snacks, bottled water, and words of encouragement from fellow parents written on Post-it notes that adorn the walls as a personal touch.
Recognising that childcare can be a barrier to potential airport employees taking up work and a factor in employees leaving the company, Cassotis took a revolutionary step and opened an on-site childcare facility in September 2023. Providing a childcare option on the same site as an employee’s workplace helps strengthen parents’ work-life balance and supports workforce development – and PIT remains one of the few airports in the world that offer this benefit.
Pittsburgh is one of 325 airports that partner with the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower programme. A discreet lanyard, bracelet, pin or sticker lets airport team members know that the wearer has a hidden disability and may require additional help.
If you are a dog lover, you may be lucky enough to see one of the PIT PAWS – short for pups alleviating worry and stress – the therapy dogs who roam the airport with their ambassador to bring joy (as well as helpful information and tips from the handler) to passengers before their flights.
A duty to resilience
For Christina’s community, which operates as a major transplant centre, people’s lives literally depend on the airport. “People’s lives depend on transplant teams getting in or organs being delivered. If we shut down for a day, it could literally cost somebody their life. I feel that’s a responsibility we all have in this industry: to operate with as much resilience and redundancy as possible.”
This means creating an incredibly resilient airport, which they are doing by linking with manufacturing start-ups, energy developments and tech innovation to ensure that they are fit for multiple different futures and what challenges that would bring.
“We’ve prepared for technologies that we can’t even imagine yet. We made sure fibre runs throughout the terminal, and we’ve ensured that we can expand if required. If a hub operation ever returned, we’re master-planned to add more gates. We also have land available if we need to expand parking or other facilities.”
Having seen other airports such as Los Angeles, Atlanta and Heathrow make headlines due to major power outages, Cassotis decided that this could not happen to them. So, in July 2021, PIT became the first major airport in the world to be entirely powered by on-site natural gas and solar energy through a 23MW microgrid.
“We sit on a large site with access to natural gas, so we developed a microgrid through private sector partners at no cost to the airport. The system produces 23MW of energy while we use around 15MW. Excess power is sold back to the grid. The grid is now our backup rather than our primary power source.”
When the same thing happened to their airport, and fires damaged two of PIT’s substations in March 2025, the microgrid isolated those interconnections, powered the airport independently and prevented any loss of power.
“We’ve saved more than $1 million in utility costs annually, reduced our carbon footprint and created a highly resilient energy system, supported by five natural gas turbines and 10,000 solar panels.”
SAF to take off at PIT
Pittsburgh aims to become the first U.S. airport to produce sustainable aviation fuel on-site and this is something Cassotis believes will drive economic development for both the region and the airport, while helping the airport meet its decarbonisation goals.
“Space and resources prevent some airports from pursuing similar projects, but we hope others will follow. We’re progressing towards development and securing offtake agreements. The project will improve resilience for airlines, while increasing domestic energy production. Our airlines are very supportive of this.”
The airport has pipeline access to the river, which would grant them the opportunity to export fuel by barge or rail, allowing them to supply airports across the U.S. Northeast and Midwest.
The Allegheny County Airport Authority also has ambitions to produce hydrogen on-site which would revolutionise the aviation industry. On-site hydrogen would also be used to power ground vehicles, facilities and fuel cells if realised.
Cassotis is a visionary leader who clearly has her eyes on the future and is laying the groundwork to ensure the airport delivers a fantastic passenger experience and plays a leading role in its community and global aviation for many years to come.
Unfortunately, because Christina was opening her new terminal, she was not able to attend the awards ceremony to be presented with her International Airport Review Airport Leader of the Year Award, but this only serves to further highlight her dedication to her airport and her staff. Cassotis sent in the acceptance video below, which was played at the 2025 event.
IAR’s Airport Leader of the Year 2026 will be announced at the Airport Honour Awards taking place during the International Airport Summit in Rome on 11 November.
Click here to see the shortlist
Click here to register for the event
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