Following the 2020 collapse of air travel, the passenger count at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) in April 2024 finally exceeded the five-year ago April 2019 reading. However, the total passenger count was a mere 0.2 percent higher than five years earlier.
All of the small gain was accounted for by domestic passengers, which rose 0.8 percent over the period, while international passengers remained 25.6 percent below the 2019 level and still 8 percent below the April 2018 reading.
An important indicator of airport activity is airport operations—a measure of takeoffs and landings. From April 2019 to April 2024, operations fell from 12,442 to 10,533, a drop of 15.2 percent. And from April 2018, operations are down 15.9 percent.
By comparison, national passenger travel—as measured by Transportation Security Administration screenings data—show the travel count rising 5.8 percent from April 2019 to April 2024. And as recent Allegheny Institute Policy Briefs have noted, several airports across the country have seen far faster than national growth in air travel.
Allegheny County Airport Authority officials must explain why the hefty subsidies for international flights are not creating net five-year gains in passengers. And that said, where is the data on arriving foreign passengers that would confirm the claims made to justify the overseas travel subsidies?
