Pittsburg, PA
Presley’s Place At Pittsburgh’s Airport Is A Model To Be Copied
Presley’s Place at Pittsburgh’s airport is a sensory-sensitive room that makes travel possible for … [+]
Airports are mini-cities of activity. Planes moving in and out, people running to catch flights, others being pulled over for extra security. Restaurants and shops try to keep the lines short or create enough demand for a line. For most people, airports are manageable spaces that sometimes can be exciting, and the activity and noise that comes with an airport visit is just part of the drill.
For those with sensory challenges, airports can be overwhelming and even scary. Just under 3% of children are identified as being on the autism spectrum, and some of these children find it difficult to navigate the busy airport environment. Families traveling with someone with sensory challenges can find that the airport is a real challenge, and may even choose to drive on a long trip rather than fly. Pittsburgh’s airport (PIT) addressed this reality three years ago with the opening of Presley’s Place, and this has become a model that other airports should follow.
About Presley’s Place
Presley’s Place is a room on the A concourse at Pittsburgh International Airport that is made especially for people with sensory challenges. It is open 24/7, and is an inviting, quiet, and pleasant space where families can relax before taking their next flight. With support from American Airlines, the location also includes a mock-up of a real airplane, and this too can make the ultimate experience of boarding less stressful for some.
The name comes from Presley Rudge, the son of Jason Rudge, a heavy equipment operator at PIT. Presley has autism, and his dad noticed how his son was helped at pre-school by a sensory-sensitive place. Jason wrote to PIT’s CEO Christina Cassotis, and she worked with others to make the space a reality. Traveling with someone with sensory challenges can present difficulties, and Presley’s Place addresses this with a space made to help make the travel work.
Attracting New Travel Demand
The World Health Organization estimates that 16% of the global population has some sort of disability. The CDC says that over 25% of U.S. citizens have some kind of disability. For airlines, disability has often been responded to with a wheelchair. Wheelchair services at airports are extremely helpful for those with limited mobility, but a wheelchair is not the solution for other kinds of disabilities.
The airline industry is potentially missing millions of passengers if they don’t actively think about solutions other than wheelchairs. Presley’s Place is a response to a specific condition, and by doing this they make air travel more comfortable, or even possible, for a part of the population that needs this kind of space. If other U.S. airports put in their own sensory-sensitive spaces, this likely would create more families willing to fly. The obvious first airports to add would be a family-friendly spot like Orlando. As good as Presley’s Place is if you are traveling through PIT, a nationwide network of spaces like this is what will attract a new audience for travel.
Low Cost And High Impact
Michael Swiatek is the Chief Strategy and Planning officer for Avianca airlines. Michael is also blind, making him one of the only, if not the only, blind senior officer in the airline industry. Michael is pragmatic about his challenges and understands airlines well enough to think about what airlines can do. He gave a great talk at IATA’s World Passenger Symposium last year, and as part of this talk challenged the industry to think about things that are “low cost and high impact.” He also believes that the industry needs to address accessibility in ways beyond a wheelchair since he thinks about how to grow the passenger base as part of his job.
Presley’s Place meets this challenge at PIT. It’s not that the space is cheap — no real estate in an airport is cheap. But compared to other spaces in the airport it was developed very efficiently. Compare this to a customer lounge, for example, and it was developed for small fraction of that cost. Getting a partner like American to donate some equipment helped, and the industry has lots of ways it can help in this way.
A Model For Other Airports
Presley’s Place is unique to PIT, and other airports should use this model to develop their own space, or spaces, for their sensory-challenged travelers. What’s mostly needed is a conviction that it’s the right thing to do, and a recognition that making the airport more accessible for more people is a good goal. Using local airline partners, as PIT did, will help.
Beyond sensory-sensitive spaces, Presley’s Place and Michael Swiatek’s challenge should motivate airports and airlines to think about ways to make the airport and airline environment more accessible to more people. Wheelchair service is great for those that need them. The CDC says that in the U.S., mobility issues affect 12.1% of those with a disability. Deafness and blindness combine for another 10%, and these are the areas next most fruitful to address since mobility is now generally well covered. Let’s find low cost and high impact ways to get more people on airplanes!
The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day as part of a two-game showcase on Netflix.
A Brief History of the Steelers on Christmas Day
Wednesday’s matchup against the Chiefs will only be the third time the Steelers have played on Christmas Day in their history. Pittsburgh played on consecutive Christmas Days in 2016 and in ’17. They hold a 2–0 record on Christmas, beating the Baltimore Ravens in ’16 and the Houston Texans in ’17. A win over the Chiefs this year would allow the Steelers to keep their undefeated Christmas record.
The NFL first played Christmas games in 1971 when hosting two matchups: Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs vs. Miami Dolphins. The league took a long break from hosting Christmas Day games until 1989. The NFL didn’t consistently showcase Christmas Day games until somewhat recently. Games on the holiday used to happened every few years or so, but now there’s been at least one if not more Christmas Day games every year since 2020.
The 2022 and ’23 seasons saw three Christmas Day games each, the most ever hosted on the holiday. It’s more rare for the NFL to have Christmas games compared to the long-standing tradition of Thanksgiving games.
Key Moments in Steelers’ Christmas Day History
The Steelers’ first Christmas Day game back in 2016 vs. the Ravens was one for the history books. Pittsburgh clinched the AFC North title after former receiver Antonio Brown scored a four-yard touchdown with nine seconds left in the game to give the Steelers a 31–27 victory. It’s always a huge win when the Steelers beat their AFC North rivals, but it helps that a playoff spot was on the line, too. Pittsburgh advanced to the AFC Championship that season, but lost to the eventual Super Bowl championship-winning New England Patriots.
The Steelers’ 2017 Christmas Day matchup vs. the Texans the following year wasn’t as nail-biting as Pittsburgh dominated 34–6. The Steelers scored four touchdowns in the game compared to the Texans’ one touchdown, which resulted in no two-point conversion. The Steelers would go on to lose in the wild-card round to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It’s been so long since the Steelers have played in a Christmas Day game, though, as former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger led the team to both of these key wins mentioned above. The Steelers are on their fourth starting quarterback since Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season.
By the Numbers: Steelers’ Christmas Day Record
The Steelers hold a 2–0 record on Christmas Day.
|
Year |
Opponent |
Result |
|---|---|---|
|
2016 |
Baltimore Ravens |
W, 31–27 |
|
2017 |
Houston Texans |
W, 34–6 |
Roethlisberger threw for 279 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions during the win over the Ravens. Running back Le’Veon Bell carried the ball 20 times for 122 yards and one touchdown. And, another blast from the past, Brown caught the ball 10 times for 96 yards and one touchdown.
Both Roethlisberger and Bell showed out for the Steelers in 2017, too. The quarterback threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns, while the running back carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards and one touchdown. Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster led the Steelers with six catches for 75 yards and one touchdown in the contest. Brown missed the game due to injury.
Steelers’ Christmas Day Heroes
As mentioned above, both Roethlisberger and Bell appeared as heroes for the Steelers in both previous Christmas Day games. Brown, too, is considered the hero of the 2016 game as he scored the final touchdown to seal the win.
Memorable Rivalries and Matchups
Rivalry games are often showcased during the Christmas Day matchups. The Steelers were a part of that narrative in 2016 when playing against the Ravens, but this year the Steelers and Ravens will be playing in different Christmas games. The Ravens will be playing the Texans after the Steelers–Chiefs game.
The Chiefs have appeared in multiple rivalry Christmas Day games against the Las Vegas Raiders in 2004 and ’23, and also against the Denver Broncos in 2016. Kansas City holds a 2–2 record on Christmas Day.
The Christmas Day games often hold playoff implications for teams as the games are played near the end of the regular season. Before the 18-week season, the Christmas Day games were sometimes the last games of the season for some teams. However, both the Steelers and Chiefs clinched playoff spots already. The Steelers will need to win in order to keep the top AFC North seed, especially if the Ravens beat the Texans.
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Paul Skenes was nothing short of dominant for the Pittsburgh Pirates en route to winning the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year.
But even in a season full of special performances from the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, one performance stood out above the rest for the Pirates. MLB.com picked the best performance for every team in the 2024 season and tabbed his performance against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 11 as Pittsburgh’s best. Skenes pitched 7 no-hit innings and struck out 11 batters while walking just one on 99 pitches in a 1-0 win over the eventual NL Central champions.
“Skenes had otherworldly expectations coming into 2024, but few could have expected him to dominate the way he did out of the gate, earning an All-Star nod after just 10 Major League starts,” Stumpf writes. “His 11th start made it clear that he was already one of the game’s best, striking out 11 over seven innings of no-hit ball. Skenes walked and hit a batter in the second, his lone blemishes as he would go on to retire the last 16 Brewers he faced. The Pirates would go on to win, 1-0, and Skenes was named the National League’s starting pitcher the next day.“
The only trouble Skenes had came in the second inning with two outs when he hit Brewers Jake Bauers and walked Garrett Mitchell. The Pirates ace escaped the jam by striking out Andruw Monasterio and Skenes sat down the next 15 batters he faced, including seven via strikeout, to end his outing.
Skenes’ outing against the Brewers marked the second time he exited a game without allowing a single hit. He also accomplished the feat on May 17 in the second start of his big league career when he pitched 6 shutout innings, struck out 11 and walked 1 batter against the Chicago Cubs to earn the first win of his career.
Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates
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