Pittsburgh International Airport Is Now Seeing 2,000 Daily Travelers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh International Airport is empty.
That's good for travelers, especially if they are looking for their baggage on the conveyor belt. But it's not so good for the airport. They are projecting a $70 million loss in revenue by the year's end.
Out of 75 businesses at the airport, only 11 are open during the coronavirus pandemic.
That's money lost for the airport, which relies primarily on shopping, dining, parking and rental cars.
But spokesperson Bob Kerlik says Pittsburgh is starting to see a slight uptick and those traveling will notice a few changes here.
"The first thing they are going to see when they get to the airport are the signs on the door requiring them to wear a full face covering when they come into the terminal," Kerlik said.
Travelers will also see robotic scrubbers going up and down the terminal.
"They will see barriers going up at ticket counters and customer service desks," Kerlick said.
Travelers will also see footprints on the floor at checkpoints and vendors to remind people about social distancing.
On Thursday, Edward Vega from California was passing through Pittsburgh.
For his birthday week, he had planned to go to several baseball parks across the country to watch games.
"I went to Chicago, to Philadelphia, to New York and now I'm in Pittsburgh. And I did it prior to COVID-19 and I decided I was going to keep it anyway," Vega said.
A mother and son were on a mission on Thursday. Amy Rehm says they did a quick turnaround.
"We probably prefer not to be traveling during the pandemic, but we had to empty his dorm room out at Penn State from Arizona. We got the notice it was time to go do that, so we had to come from Arizona and get that done," Rehm said.
When air travel is at its peak, 30,000 passengers pass through Pittsburgh International every day.
That's now down to 2,000 daily.