THE ATRIUM AREA BETWEEN THE CENTER CORE AND MEET-AND-GREET WELCOME POINT WITH BAGGAGE CLAIM. | RENDERING COURTESY OF PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

It’s been exciting to see the new, $1.7 billion terminal take shape at Pittsburgh International Airport. I’ve been on several hard-hat media tours over the last couple of years, starting when the departure area was filled top to bottom with 30,000 square feet of scaffolding and hundreds of workers. Although a date for the opening day had not been announced by our press deadline, it’s certainly within reach. We provide a users’ guide to the new terminal starting on page 36.

The aim of the new terminal is not only to introduce visitors to everything that’s quintessentially Pittsburgh, but also to be modern, more efficient and better at fitting the region’s needs.

Is everyone convinced a new terminal was the way to go?

“The first is, Pittsburgh deserves a state-of-the-art airport, right? We need a shiny, shiny thing to brand ourselves. And in that case, I think this gets an A,” says H. Blair Pomeroy, a clinical assistant professor at the Katz Graduate School of Business at University of Pittsburgh. Pomeroy spent nearly three decades in aviation and aviation consulting; he held various management positions at American and United airlines and consulted for several others.

He said a new terminal could make a difference if Pittsburgh — like New York City or Los Angeles — had more than one major airport; if people liked one airport over others, they could try to book flights at their first choice. “When you have a city option, then the quality of the airport factors into a greater degree,” he says.

When there’s no such competition, the impact that a new airport terminal would have beyond the airport’s borders is a bit fuzzier. “Nobody is going to say, ‘Oh, you built a new airport. We’re going to fly there,’” he says. “I mean, that doesn’t factor into the simulation models.”

Airlines add flights or choose to add Pittsburgh as a destination if there are more people flying, more demand. They also look at the cost of landing fees.

He believes the $1.7 billion spent on the new terminal could have been spent in a better way. “We could have used that money for incentives for more robotics or AI or biotech incentives for those or to help with the incubator, things that I think have a longer tail of economic benefit for the metro.”

Local tourism officials say a new terminal could be one more reason that conventions would choose Pittsburgh as a place to hold their meetings. And it’s likely to impress the thousands of fans coming to Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft next April.

Only time will tell what kind of economic engine the new terminal will be for the Pittsburgh region. Right now, we’re just eager for it to open.