Interim airport manager to aid in search for permanent replacement
PENN TWP — On Oct. 1, Stephanie Saracco became interim manager of one of the 10 busiest regional airports in Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport.
Saracco previously worked at regional airports in Pennsylvania and New York and was manager of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, prompting Michael Walsh, chairman of the Butler County Airport Authority, to say she is “certainly right for the job” in Butler.
“An airport is like a small city,” Saracco said. “We have residents, businesses, utilities, that kind of thing that all have to be maintained here at the airport. You have leases, and you work with the businesses and their issues and concerns.”
Saracco was appointed interim manager following the departure of previous manager, Michael Biggs, who resigned around June, according to Walsh. Saracco is working at the airport part time until the board finds a permanent manager.
“I oversee the day-to-day operations of the airport,” Saracco said. “I interact with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation and the FAA on any safety and security matters and grants to get projects done here at the airport.”
Walsh said Saracco also will help with the search for a permanent manager once she gets more settled in her role.
“I think it'll be six months to a year, and then she'll help us get a permanent manager,” Walsh said.
Saracco said while she oversees the general operations of the airport, businesses that operate in the airport such as the High Flight Academy flight school and Italian restaurant Serventi’s on the Runway have their own leadership. Allegheny Health Network also stores medical helicopters at the airport.
According to Saracco, pilots who use the airport need to follow guidelines from the Federal Aviation Administration.
“It’s a misconception by a lot of people that pilots need permission to land here and take off,” Saracco said. “As long as it’s legal, they can land and take off here. There is no restriction; legally we cannot restrict them. The only thing we can do is if the runway is unsafe, we can close the runway for safety reasons.”
The airport also owns hangars with 80 spots available for lease. Saracco said they are all leased. She said tens of thousands of flights use the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport every year.
“We are full, and we have a waiting list,” Saracco said. “We are running about 75,000 flight operations per year, and we have about 130 based aircraft.”
Earlier this year, the airport was renovated to improve its offices as well as Serventi’s. The airport has received money from Butler County and the state, ultimately for the expansion of the runway and rental facilities, according to Walsh.
Saracco said runway upgrades are still in the works.
“The authority is in the process of expanding the infrastructure to make it possible for people to come in and build hangars and do business,” Saracco said.
In March 2022, Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, earmarked $2 million for the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in an omnibus spending package for community project funding. According to Walsh, a proposed runway expansion is still far off, because that project requires infrastructure improvements before construction can begin.
“As far as runway extension, there's a lot of updates we need to do before even considering that,” Walsh said. “There's just a lot of preliminary work that needs to be done. It's probably years off coming, if it does come.”
Not only does the airport need to be expanded to handle the growing aircraft traffic, Saracco said it also brings millions of dollars to the area each year, because of the amount of people who get to Butler County through the airport.
“Business folks who are coming into the area for a meeting or something like that will fly into this airport,” Saracco said. “You have your general aviation folks who do it for the joy of flying, stopping and eating at the restaurant, refueling.”
In addition to the volume of flights into the Butler County airport, Saracco said the number of students in the High Flight Academy has also increased, possibly because of the demand for pilots that arose in 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Right now the flight school is doing most of the flight operations,” Saracco said. “That has really taken off the last couple of years.”
