GREATER PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT





The 'monumental' main entrance to the Greater Pittsburgh terminal as it appeared in 1985. Photo by AirNikon

When the Greater Pittsburgh Airport was dedicated on May 31, 1952, it was the largest airport terminal in the nation. Operations were transferred from Allegheny County Airport, which had grown too small to serve the burgeoning air travel market in Pittsburgh. The PIT site had been used as a military training field during World War II and was purchased by the city after the war ended. When it opened, the site consisted of three intersecting runways, with the terminal building in the center.


The Greater Pittsburgh terminal under construction in 1951.

The terminal building was designed to be a monumental structure, one that would be a city unto itself. The architects modeled the building after an ocean liner, with terraced levels and a massive central section. Fashioned from granite and marble, the terminal was the largest public-works project ever attempted in Pennsylvania. The airlines serving Pittsburgh - TWA, Northwest, Mohawk, Eastern, TWA, Capital, American and All-American (later Allegheny) moved into the building in June 1952.

Passengers entered the building through the semicircular colonnade entrance, which overlooked a 75-foot tall illuminated fountain. Once inside, they found themselves in the center of a four-story atrium featuring a mobile by artist Alexander Calder (this mobile now hangs in the airside core of the present terminal.) Departing passengers ascended to the second floor via escalators, where they checked their luggage and walked down a 680-foot pier to one of 16 departure gates. Holdrooms for each gate were located on the ground level, accessible by stairs.


Assorted views of the entrance fountain in front of the PIT terminal.


A wider view of the main PIT entrance.


Looking out from the terminal across the passenger drop-off roadway.


Looking southeast across the terminal ramp in the building's early days. The South Dock (at that time the only dock) is visible at center. The gates in the foreground were used by Eastern and American, while TWA used the gates along the dock at rear. Capital, Northwest, Mohawk and Allegheny were located on the back side of the building.
Courtesy of Jim Kruggel


Two more 'classic' PIT postcards, showing a medley of late 1950s props at Greater Pitt from Eastern and TWA. TWA was a significant player at the airport until Deregulation in 1978, when its mini-hub was shut down. When PIT was opened in 1952, TWA built a large maintenance hangar across the runways from the terminal - this was later sold to Allegheny and is now used by US Airways.
Courtesy of Jim Kruggel

On the mezzanine and third floors were amenities that had never been seen before in an airport - a doctor's office, beauty parlor, florist, drugstore, photo studio, post office, even a branch bank and music store. There was also a 62-bed hotel and a movie theater seating over 300 people. On the top floor was a terraced restaurant and dining room with a dance floor and a runway to accommodate fashion shows. The terminal was a destination in itself and was widely acknowledged as the finest aviation facility in the world.

The first major expansion to the building came in May 1959, when a second pier was opened on the east side of the building. Similar in style to the rest of the terminal, the new pier had nine additional gates, set up in a similar layout. When this pier - known as the East Dock - was completed, Allegheny, Northwest and Capital moved over from the original pier, now known as the South Dock.


Two photos of Greater Pitt in 1958. The first shows the original main building and pier (later the South Dock.) The West Dock would be built in the grassy area in the foreground in 1971. The second shows the new East Dock nearing completion. Photos by John F. Ciesla


Jet aircraft arrived at PIT in the early 1960s - here a United DC8 (left) is parked at the then-new East Dock, while a TWA 707 fanjet (right) is seen at the end of the original South Dock. TWA would move to its own brand-new West Dock in 1971.


The three-level main lobby of Greater Pitt in the early 1960s. The photo looks south, down the lower level of the South Dock. Escalators to the mezzanine levels are on the left and right.
Courtesy of Jim Kruggel

Traffic at the airport grew handsomely in the 1960s as the airlines serving PIT began introducing jet aircraft on their routes. In 1968, air cargo offices were moved into their own building, freeing up the ground floor of the terminal. It was renovated into a baggage claim facility, allowing separation of arriving and departing passengers on the first and second floors. In the meantime, a $200 million expansion of the terminal building was begun in 1966. A four-gate temporary concourse for Allegheny was opened in December of 1969, giving Pittsburgh's 'hometown' airline much-needed expansion capability.


Looking down across the main lobby of the PIT terminal in 1969. The Alexander Calder mobile is visible, as is the entrance to the East Dock, then occupied by Allegheny and United.
From the 1969 Allegheny annual report


Diagrams of PIT from 1971, just before the expansion program was completed. The map at right shows the temporary concourse added for Eastern and Allegheny in 1969.

The expansion program was completed in 1971. A 600-foot-long new West Dock was built exclusively for TWA. This facility, although joined to the main building, essentially amounted to a 'unit terminal' for TWA. It gave the carrier its own parking lot, ticketing hall, baggage claim facility and passenger concourse. It also featured an international arrivals hall, although international service was, at that time limited to hops across the border to Canada. The name of the airport was officially changed to Greater Pittsburgh International Airport.

Also included in the project was a head-to-toe makeover of the original building and the construction of rotunda gate areas at the ends of the existing South and East Docks. These were completed in 1971 - Allegheny moved into the south rotunda, while United took over the east rotunda. The original gate areas were carpeted and fitted with jetway loading bridges. The project increased the number of gates from 25 to 39 and more than doubled the building's capacity.


This photo from 1971, looking southwest from the East Dock, was taken before the expansion was completed. Allegheny is still located on the East Dock, while TWA aircraft can be seen in the background at the South Dock. Both airlines would receive new gates later in the year. Photo by AirNikon


Allegheny's new South Dock rotunda, which it moved into in mid-1971. The first photo shows the interior of the facility, while the second picture shows an outside view. Although Allegheny retained a few of its gates on the East Dock, the bulk of its flights operated out of the South Dock rotunda during the 1970s. From the 1973 Allegheny annual report


All additions to the terminal are complete in this aerial view from the mid-1970s. TWA's new West Dock facility is complete, although TWA has only hung jetbridges from three gates.


A diagram of PIT in 1975, showing the additions completed in 1971.


A 1977 photo of an Allegheny DC-9 parked between the East and South Docks. Note that Northwest has attached a jetway to its ground-level gate on the East Dock. In the background, a United 727 is parked at one of the new rotunda gate areas. Photo by AirNikon


A chartered World Airways parks at the international gate on the West Dock in the 1970s. In the background, an aircraft taxis out to the parallel runway completed in 1962.

By the mid-1970s, however, airport planners realized the terminal building was nearing the end of its useful life. They began acquiring land to the west, between the two parallel runways (a second east-west runway for jet aircraft was opened in 1961.) The size of the airport swelled until it was the second-largest in the nation, behind Dallas/Fort Worth.


A view of the South Dock in the late 1970s, just before Allegheny changed its name to USAir. Note that very preliminary construction work on the Southeast Dock is underway (in front of the BAC111 at center right). Eastern's two jetways are at center left, and American's gate is at top left. Courtesy of Juan Garcia

The need for further expansion became clear in 1978, when the airline industry was deregulated. Several major carriers, including Continental, Delta and People Express, began service to Pittsburgh. TWA and United scaled their Pittsburgh operations back dramatically, opening up more gate space for new-entrant carriers. Allegheny, no longer limited to local-service routes, began flights to Florida and the West Coast, eventually changing its name to USAir in 1979. To handle the booming passenger numbers, USAir built its own concourse in 1981, providing 15 additional gates. This extension was known as the Southeast Dock and was accessed by an escalator from the South Dock.


An artist's rendering of the new Southease Dock prior to its construction (left) and its high-tech interior upon completion (right). The new pier featured exposed ceiling and heating components and unfinished tile walls to create a 'modern' appearance. Photos from Airport World magazine.


Assorted views of the new Southeast Dock following its completion in 1981. The second picture was taken from a new USAir ramp control tower added atop the existing South Dock.
From various USAir annual reports

The Southeast Dock also included a USAir Club for frequent travelers. USAir's existing gates on the East and South Docks were remodeled yet again, this time in the red and brown colors of the new USAir.




Two maps of Greater Pitt from 1982. The first shows gate locations (Continental and TWA are cut off on the West Dock) and the second shows ticket counter locations and parking. Note how many overflow parking lots had to be added offsite. Courtesy of Tom Moore


Two postcards from the 1980s showing the Southeast Dock extending across the apron from the South Dock.



Various images of the Greater Pitt terminal throughout the 1980s, showing new entrant carrier Continental, as well as several shots of aircraft parked at the new Southeast Dock. Photos by AirNikon, Thomas Connelly, Jeff Bergman, George Hamlin and Chris Novak


Interior and exterior views of Greater Pitt taken in the early 1990s, showing the main lobby, upper level mezzanine and entrance portico just before the terminal was closed.
Photos by Chris Adams



A guide to PIT from early 1992, just before the facility closed.
Courtesy of Jim Kruggel

Construction on the new terminal finally got underway in 1987, and it was officially opened October 1, 1992. All operations transferred to the new facility overnight, making Pittsburgh the largest terminal complex (along with Atlanta ) to be abandoned in a single day. At the time the terminal closed, the South and Southeast Docks were occupied entirely by USAir. USAir also used most of the gates on the East Dock, except for a few in the rotunda leased by United. All of the other carriers - Delta, American, TWA, Northwest, British Airways and Continental - were located on the West Dock.

For several years the old terminal sat vacant and unused, except for a few administrative offices. There was discussion of declaring a historic landmark, thus saving it from the wrecking ball, and the Smithsonian Institution even talked for a time about turning it into an aviation museum. The building could not be saved, though, and was torn down in stages, beginning with the historically insignifcant Southeast Dock in 1997 and ending with the demolition of the main terminal block in 2000. Today there is no trace of the old building, aside from a very large, empty stretch of apron.


Satellite views of the abandoned Pittsburgh terminal site, taken before demolition in 1996 and after in 2003.


The abandoned Greater Pitt terminal in 1999, just prior to its demoliton. Photos by Adam Prince


The central block of the 1952 terminal comes down in 2000, after efforts to save it failed.


An aerial view of Pittsburgh International Airport in 2000, showing the new terminal and the vacant site of the old building. Photo by Gerard Foley

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