Welcome to the #PaxEx Podcast, which tracks the evolution of the airline passenger experience and industry’s sustainability initiatives. We’re pleased to share our interview with Christina Cassotis, CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority which runs Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).

The airport is in the midst of a major transformation to improve the passenger experience, including for persons with reduced mobility.(PRMs). And it’s eager to expand upon its already-laudable sustainability work.

To wit, it has embraced a hybrid approach to its microgrid, inclusive of solar and natural gas, leading to a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions and electricity costs in a region that is otherwise known for its coal-heavy grid.

“There was no way it was not going to be hybrid,” Cassotis told RGN on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s World Sustainability Symposium in Coral Gables, Florida.

“How do you send a message on sustainability and not have a renewable fuel source? So, to me it was non-negotiable; there was going to be a renewable resource for fuel that would power that microgrid in addition to the natural gas, because that’s the story we wanted to tell.”