The free service will bring passengers back to Pittsburgh International, says Tony Gialloreto, IT manager at the Allegheny Airport Authority, which runs the Pittsburgh facility. "The PR from this is worth more than the revenue" a third-party WLAN service could generate, he says.
The airport had already allocated $100,000 for a wireless LAN prior to US Airways' flight cuts (Pittsburgh airport is US Airways' hub) and the airport's subsequent passenger decline. But it was the revenue argument that nearly tripped up the freebie WLAN project.
"The biggest problem we had was that everyone wanted to make a profit off the wireless LAN," Gialloreto says. Not only did wireless providers and airport consultants recommend charging for the WLAN, but the airport authority's board of directors also liked the idea. "At first, it was hard to convince our board and CEO to think outside the box," Gialloreto recalls, "but [executive director] Kent George said, 'Let's do it.' "
For a small IT department like Gialloreto's, establishing and maintaining a billing system can cost even more than building the wireless infrastructure itself. Pay-for-use wireless requires full-time management of the service, Gialloreto explains. "Then it becomes a heavily managed product, which is why many airports go with a wireless service instead to handle that," he says. "And airports don't reap the full benefits of the revenue, because the service providers sell it. And it can be a turnoff to the traveling public, because they have to pay for it."
Gialloreto says he expects that by the time the airport crunches the numbers later this year, the WLAN will have more than paid for itself. The airport gets 1,200 to 1,800 hits per month on the WLAN.
Gialloreto's next pitch will be a wireless field emergency-services application. "I think it will be well-received" by management, because wireless is so widespread now, he says.
