Allegheny County Airport is in

West Mifflin, Pennsylvania West Mifflin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, located southeast of downtown Pittsburgh. The population was 20,313 at the 2010 census. It is named after Thomas Mifflin, 1st Governor of Pennsylvania, signer of the Un ...

, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. It is the fifth-busiest airport in Pennsylvania following

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, and

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

. The airport is owned by the

Allegheny County Airport Authority Allegheny County Airport Authority is a municipal authority in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania that oversees and maintains the Allegheny County airport system. These include management of Pittsburgh International Airport as well as Allegheny Count ...

and is the primary

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

-designated

reliever airport A relief airport or reliever airport is an airport that is built or designated to provide relief or additional capacity to an area when the primary commercial airport(s) requires additional capacity, on a long-term or temporary basis. Reliever a ...

for Pittsburgh International Airport. Allegheny County Airport was dedicated on September 11, 1931. When it was completed, it was third-largest airport in the country and the only hard-surface airport in the country. It was historically the main entrance to metro Pittsburgh via air from its inception until June 1952, when the Greater Pittsburgh Airport (now Pittsburgh International Airport – KPIT) opened for commercial aviation. Like many historic municipal fields, Allegheny serves small and mid-sized private, corporate and commercial traffic well, but was not built to handle jet airliners. A Boeing 727 owned by Rockwell and two DC-9's however were based on the field for years. One DC-9, owned by Westinghouse Air Brake, operated from the former TWA hangar. Another DC-9 was owned by Richard Scaife. Additionally, political candidates often operate chartered jet airliners into the field. Air Force 2, a Boeing 757, has been on the airport in the 2000s. In May 2017, a Southwest

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

with 143 passengers en route from Orlando, made a precautionary landing when running low on fuel. The airport is popular among business travelers, being closer to downtown than Pittsburgh International Airport. It is much closer to the densely populated South Hills, Monroeville area and

Monongahela Valley The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-cen ...

. The airport had a Hollywood big screen moment in the 2002 film '' The Mothman Prophecies'', serving as the small

Point Pleasant, West Virginia Point Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. The population was 4,101 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Point Pleasant, ...

airport where the governor and

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

debate how serious the impending crisis is in the river town. Also the Airport and Terminal were used in the 1986 movie '' Gung Ho'' starring

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in '' Beetlejuice'' ...

, The 2017 film ''

Last Flag Flying ''Last Flag Flying'' is a 2017 American war comedy-drama film directed by Richard Linklater with a screenplay by Linklater and Darryl Ponicsan, based upon the latter's 2005 novel of the same name. It stars Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, and Lauren ...

'' was filmed in the hangar and ramp areas. The airport is home to Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA), a large aircraft maintenance school.

Facilities

The main terminal was built on a former steel industry slag dump in 1931 by Stanley L. Roush, with later additions by

Henry Hornbostel Henry Hornbostel (August 15, 1867 – December 13, 1961) was an American architect and educator. Hornbostel designed more than 225 buildings, bridges, and monuments in the United States. Twenty-two of his designs are listed on the National Regis ...

in 1936. Aiming for a more modern design, the building used white brick with touches of black, silver, and green. Hornbostel continued with these colors for his additions. Above the stainless-steel canopy is a semi-hexagonal doorhead. To each side is an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

urn with medallions containing images of flight by both humans and animals. The 1936 renovations bricked up all windows of the field to the restaurant and by summer 1936 it had long been known for the largest amount of runway paving in the world at a combined 50 miles, as well as being one of the largest fields in the world at 108 acres. It no longer has airlines, but can accommodate aircraft up to a

DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

. As of March 2021 extensive renovations of the terminal building are continuing. Exterior brick restoration has been completed, and a new ceramic floor has replaced vinyl tile and very modern new and relocated restrooms have been installed, along with a restored upper lobby with new lighting fixtures and artwork. The lobby floor and restrooms continue the Art Deco Zig-Zag inspiration in the use of glazed black and white ceramic tile. At present the west wing ceiling, former restaurant site, has been restored to its original ceiling height, and the entire west side of the building is being renovated for a banquet facility. The lower level once housed the Capital Airlines office. The hair salon in the former TWA ticket office, will remain. Allegheny County Airport covers and has two active runways and one helipad: * 10/28: 6,501 x 150 ft (1,982 x 46 m) Concrete * 13/31: 3,825 x 100 ft (1,166 x 30 m) Concrete * Helipad H1: 47 x 45 ft (14 x 14 m) Concrete Runway 5/23, at 2550'x 100 was closed some years ago due to the FAA policy of not funding runways that short and needed expansion for Voyager Jet Center. The Rwy 5 VOR approach was decommissioned at that time.

County Police station

The airport has a small station operated by the

Allegheny County Police Department The Allegheny County Police Department is a law enforcement agency in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The department provides law enforcement services to County property, including the Pittsburgh International Airport, the Allegheny County Airpo ...

as a local station and a base for airport security operations. The airport offices and flight schools are patrolled by

private security companies A private security company (PSC) is a business entity which provides armed or unarmed security services and expertise to clients in the private or public sectors. Overview Private security companies are defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Stat ...

who work closely with the County Police.

Security

The airport does not have a defined airport security checkpoint as most flights are private planes or company jets. Airlines provide their own security inspection, if any. The way the airport building is laid out would make a checkpoint impractical and hard to control.

Crash Fire Rescue

An ARFF (Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting) station, adjacent to the former gate 1, is manned 24hrs a day by professional airport firefighters. It had been closed in a cost-saving move and responsibilities taken over by the local volunteer fire department. However, it was reopened after a single engine plane with a fire landed and the pilot later succumbed to his burns.

STAT MedEvac

Allegheny County Airport is home to the STAT MedEvac headquarters. Based on the East end of the airfield at the former Gate 9, the building is a former FPO with adjoining maintenance hangar. Their helicopters land on the ramp dubbed "STAT Land" to reposition from other hospitals, and to re-fuel.

Recent Improvements

A series of T-hangars were erected by the airport authority, in place of deteriorated ones. The terminal has been made ADA compliant with the addition of an elevator and other modifications. The entry road and parking lot concrete has been completely replaced, along with new lighting. Extensive masonry renovation to the terminal building is currently on-going.

Future improvements

The Allegheny County Airport Authority has received $2 million from the federal stimulus bill for construction at the Allegheny County Airport. The money will be used to renovate four taxiways. It will also be used to reconfigure aircraft apron areas. This will allow for future construction on aircraft maintenance hangars and ramp space associated for the maintenance areas. Construction was scheduled to begin July 20, 2009. The airport expected 40 new jobs to be created with the project but says it is the gateway for more jobs when the aircraft maintenance facility construction starts. The construction will help improve the layout of the airfield. The Mon-Fayette Expressway, now under construction from near Pittsburgh International Airport to SR51 South and SR 43 will also connect with I376 to the east with an interchange about a mile from AGC. This should be a great stimulus to the airport.

FBO Airlines

Corporate Air LLC.Voyager Jet Center
In addition to these Fixed Base Operator (FBO) Airlines, the Allegheny County Airport offers daily scheduled charter flights to Westchester Airport serving New York City and on to Nantucket operated by Fly Louie https://www.flylouie.com/.

Aviation schools and Clubs

*Pittsburgh Flight Training Center *

Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics The Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA) is a private trade school focused on aviation-related programs with its main location in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The institution's headquarters is at the Allegheny County Airport and it has three ...

ABC Flying Club, East Ramp hangar, founded 1948.

Rental car

* Hertz Rental Cars *

Thrifty Car Rental Thrifty Car Rental is an American car rental agency, headquartered in Estero, Florida, with offices in many countries around the world. Thrifty is owned by The Hertz Corporation, along with other agencies including Hertz Rent A Car and Dollar Re ...

Incidents

Historic Landmark status

In 1981, the

Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 to support the preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. In 1966, PHLF established the Revolving Fund fo ...

added the Allegheny County Airport to their List of Historic Landmarks.

Notable visitors

Harold Gatty and Wiley Post visited the airport as it was finishing construction both from the ground and air and commented that it was the finest airport they had encountered.

References

External links

Allegheny County AirportPennsylvania Bureau of Aviation: Allegheny County Airport
* {{Authority control 1931 establishments in Pennsylvania Airports established in 1931 County airports in Pennsylvania Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks Transportation buildings and structures in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania