In a rather curious spate of timing, the Allegheny County Airport Authority announced last Friday that it was immediately eliminating eight jobs at the public agency that oversees the county airport in West Mifflin and Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) in Findlay Township.
“Curious,” we note, because the job cuts came the same week that it was revealed that the Airport Authority was bribing yet another airline to fly into PIT. This time it’s $350,000 to Icelandair.
And the cuts also come amidst the escalating cost of a new ticketing, baggage and security terminal at PIT, whose price tag recently ballooned to nearly $1.6 billion. It’s sure to grow further.
Now, whether it’s a coincidence or the cause for the jobs cuts remains unknown. So, we’ll just continue to label it as “curious.”
The Post-Gazette says the authority attributed the cuts – involving nonunion positions — to “part of an organizational restructuring.”
What is “organizational restructuring?” Not really detailed.
What positions were being eliminated? Again, not addressed.
Was any severance paid? Mum’s the word.
The Airport Authority cited “personnel matters.”
Sorry, but that’s one very large crock of buncombe.
The Airport Authority is a public authority. By that very nature, any money it takes in or disburses is public money. Its employees are public employees. And any action it takes, including eliminating jobs and “organizational restructuring,” must be a matter of public record.
Period.
And it’s not as if the Airport Authority had not released a few more details in prior job cuts.
As the P-G further reported:
“In June 2019, [the authority] furloughed 16 people. The positions involved included managerial, office staff, and operation and maintenance. At the time, the authority stated that the decision came after a review of its needs, job roles, and responsibilities.
“Those employees were given three weeks’ notice and an undisclosed severance package.”
But, even in that case, the Airport Authority had an obligation to tell the public what those jobs specially were and the structure of the severance deal.
Remember all this secrecy when the price tag for the new terminal project balloon yet again and, lest we forget, when the authority announces the latest outrageous bonus for authority CEO Christina Cassotis.
A public authority. Public money. Yes, indeedy, the public has every right to know everything that transpires at the Allegheny County Airport Authority.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
