More Security Checkpoints Scheduled to Open at Pittsburgh Airport by Thanksgiving

Nov. 12--A new security checkpoint will open at Pittsburgh International Airport just in time for the holiday rush.

Four more lanes will be available for security screenings in the airport's old commuter terminal starting next weekend in an effort to combat lengthy delays, some stretching more than 35 minutes, during peak travel times.

They will supplement the seven lanes now used for screenings on the transit level of the airport's landside building.

Kent George, executive director of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which spearheaded the project, said the four new lanes should help keep waits at checkpoints to under 10 minutes, even during the busiest times.

"We are hopeful that it will resolve the problem we've been facing with lines," he said.

Travelers will be able to reach the new checkpoint from the ticketing level of the landside building. They will have to cross the closed commercial departures road and go through an enclosed walkway to reach the old commuter terminal, where the screening equipment will be. From there, they will take escalators to the trains that run to the boarding terminal.

Officials expect the new checkpoint to be open from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily, to correspond with the airport's busiest times. If the $1.2 million project is successful in cutting delays, the authority plans to build permanent walkways above the commercial departures road for travelers.

The checkpoint will open in time for the week of Thanksgiving, considered the busiest travel time of the year.

At its meeting yesterday, the authority's board:

--Approved four-year contracts with Operating Engineers Local 95 and Laborers Local 1058. The pacts give the 80 members represented by the two unions wage increases of 3 percent in the first and third years and 60 cents in the second and fourth years. The authority will pay for health care increases up to 5 percent. Increases above that will be shared 50-50. Similar deals have been reached with the building trades, machinists, service employees and Teamsters unions.

--Signed off on $5.5 million in tax increment financing for Clinton Industrial Park to build roads and water and sewer lines. Seventy-five percent of the new tax revenue generated by development will go to pay off the financing. The rest will go to the taxing bodies.

FLYING MONDAY?

Airline passengers whose flights will depart Monday morning from Pittsburgh International Airport have been advised to arrive at least two hours in advance.

Airport officials said airlines have advised them that an usually large number of people -- most likely due to post-Steelers game traffic and business travel -- are expected between 7 and 10 a.m.