Overview
The airport is encircled by both I-376 and I-376-B which is the main access for Airport Cargo and Servicing as well as other flight industries. It is owned by Allegheny County and operated by the Allegheny County Airport Authority which also operates the Allegheny County Airport. PIT is primarily a passenger airport serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, providing 160 non-stop flights per day to 36 destinations with twelve airlines. It also serves as the home of Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, a combined facility of the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard, providing aerial refueling, air mobility and tactical airlift support to the U.S. Air Force and other U.S. Department of Defense activities. Finally, the airport also has an air cargo facility and supports general aviation operations.
PIT is the second busiest passenger airport in Pennsylvania and 47th-busiest in the United States, serving 8,710,291 passengers in 2008 on 167,729 aircraft operations. The airport has the longest runways of a commercial airport in Pennsylvania at 11,500 feet (3,500 m). Until 2004, US Airways operated its largest hub at PIT. As of 2010, the airline remains PIT's largest carrier (handling 26 percent of passengers), though once the merger between Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways is completed, the merged carrier is expected to become the largest carrier. US Airways currently utilizes ten gates, more than any other airline at PIT, followed by Delta which operates five gates.
The airport offers service to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and Europe. Nonstop transatlantic service resumed on June 3, 2009 when Delta Air Lines began flights to Paris. The new service operates 5 days a week and was made possible by Delta's successful joint-venture with Air France.
PIT occupies more than 12,900 acres (52 km2), making it the fourth-largest airport by land area owned in the nation, behind Denver International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Orlando International Airport.
PIT has been frequently recognized for its quality in meeting travelers' needs. OAG Worldwide listed the facility to its short list of the world's best airports for four consecutive years. The market research leader, JD Power and Associates named PIT among the top five airports in its two most recent customer satisfaction surveys. Conde Nast Traveler's Magazine named PIT the best in the United States and third in the world in its 2000 People's Choice Award. In 2011 Conde Nast Traveler ranked the facility the 7th best for business travelers.
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