THE CHECK-IN LEVEL AT PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT | PHOTO BY BETH HOLLERICH

Summer may be winding down but activity at Pittsburgh International Airport is not letting up. Airports across the country are expecting their busiest Labor Day travel weekend — ever. 

And at PIT, the hustle comes on the heels of its busiest July in more than 20 years.

The Transportation Security Administration is expecting to screen 17 million passengers at airports nationwide from Thursday, Aug. 29 through Wednesday, Sept. 4. The peak day is expected to be Friday, Aug. 30. 

The TSA has urged travelers to arrive at PIT three hours before your flight to navigate around the crush.

As far as July numbers, 962,000 travelers flew in and out of PIT — up 11.2% over July 2023 and 5.3% higher than 2019, before the pandemic severely disrupted air travel. It was the most since the latter days when US Airways had a hub in Pittsburgh.

July “was a very busy month again as passengers continue to take advantage of the flights, showing the strength of our market,” PIT CEO Christina Cassotis said at the Allegheny County Airport Authority’s monthly board meeting on Aug. 23.

Some of the growth at PIT can be attributed to new routes introduced this year by ultra-low cost airlines to Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, Boston, Houston-Intercontinental and New York-LaGuardia. The new flights to Iceland, as well as resumed nonstop flights to San Diego by Breeze Airways and Southwest, also contributed.

Airlines are handling the larger crowds by using larger aircraft, according Blue Sky News, PIT’s news service.

As a reminder, here are a couple of nonstop routes resuming this fall and winter:

On Nov. 23, Delta Air Lines will restore nonstop service between Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City with daily, year-round nonstop flights. 

On Jan. 12, Southwest Airlines will return nonstop service to Miami on select peak days and then daily through April.