Christina Cassotis
CEO | Allegheny County Airport Authority
Christina Cassotis’ father was a pilot for Pan American World Airways when she was growing up in New Hampshire. So as a child, she decided she, too, wanted a job that would allow her to fly around the world.
Only problem was, she had neither the aptitude for aeronautics nor the personality to be a flight attendant. She ended up studying English instead.
It wasn’t until she went from a job in media relations at Massachusetts Port Authority to working with aviation consultants SH&E in Boston that the one-time magazine writer and editor realized her dream job lay in airport operations. The airports she worked with around the world were so complex, “and that fascinated me,” she says.
In 2015, she brought her business and communication skills to Pittsburgh, after a headhunter called out of the blue to offer her the top job at Allegheny County Airport Authority, which oversees and maintains the Allegheny County airport system.
Initially, the 54-year-old didn’t see a whole lot of opportunity here. After US Airways pulled its hub in 2004, Pittsburgh was left with an airport that was severely underused with a poor reputation. But she loves a challenge.
In the three years since becoming CEO, the airport has witnessed record demand growth. The number of nonstop U.S. and international flights has gone from 37 markets to 65, and there are a lot more passengers — 9.6 million, or 21 percent more than in 2015.
Among new air service she brought here, one big coup was again persuading British Airways to offer service to London’s Heathrow Airport. (There will be four weekly flights starting in April.) She also initiated the myPittpass program that allows non-flyers airside access and brought more local food purveyors into the terminal, along with its first Starbucks.
Ms. Cassotis, who holds an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also has been instrumental in getting a $1.3 billion modernization program underway that when completed in 2023 will bring the Pittsburgh International Airport into the 21st century.
Married with a 16-yearold son, she lives in Bell Acres. She travels more than 100,000 miles a year by plane and rides coach on domestic flights and business on international flights.
Aviation has long been a male-dominated industry, but Ms. Cassotis is proving that the sky’s the limit for women who can problemsolve.
“I have walked into a lot of meetings where I’ve been totally underestimated, and I think, ‘Wow. That was probably pretty miscalculating of you,’” she says with a laugh.