CAA: GA News, "New county airport chief has credentials on and off runway"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tuesday, August 6, 2002

New county airport chief has credentials on and off runway
By Mark Belko
The Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette


Stephanie Saracco had her first date with aviation some 38 years ago when
her grandfather strapped her into an airplane with him. It didn't go well.

"The story I was told was that when I went [out] on my first birthday I
cried so hard that he brought me back before we took off," she recalled
yesterday.

>From that inauspicious beginning, Saracco has grown to make local aviation
history, becoming the first woman to run one of the county's two major
airports.

The Allegheny County Airport Authority last month named the 39-year-old
Upper St. Clair pilot as director of general aviation facilities at the
Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin.

In that role Saracco oversees the daily operation of the airport (and the
occasional belly landing), manages the budget, and supervises capital
improvements. She served as acting director for about 10 months before being
given the permanent title.

"I enjoy it immensely. It is quite a challenge," she said.

No one would have guessed such a future for Saracco after that maiden voyage
nearly four decades ago. But after that first flight, she eventually got
hooked through her grandfather Mike Ninosky, a World War II instructor
pilot.

"I grew up around his airplane. He was very passionate about his flying and
it rubbed off on me," she said.

Saracco became a licensed private pilot herself about 19 years ago and she
and her husband, Mike, own a single-engine Cessna, vintage 1946, which is
now being rebuilt.

She said her experience as a pilot helps her in her job at the county
airport, which is used primarily by general aviation and corporate pilots.

"It helps me to understand how the pilots react, what they're going through
as they land or take off, the situations they encounter. It helps me to
understand the aircraft itself," she said.

Saracco was in the thick of things last Wednesday when Steelers President
Dan Rooney landed his single-engine airplane on its belly on the grass at
the airport. She helped to coordinate the emergency response but admitted to
being a bit nervous.

"There's always apprehension until the aircraft lands and until you know the
condition of the passengers and pilot," she said, adding that she did not
know Rooney was in the plane until it landed.

Before moving to the Allegheny County Airport, Saracco worked in operations
at Pittsburgh International Airport for 16 years. It was a good training
ground because it helped her to learn emergency procedures, rules and
regulations for airfields and airports, snow removal, and dealing with
pilots, passengers, and the Federal Aviation Administration. So far, she
appears to being making the grade with users of the county airport.

"From what I've heard from tenants or people who fly out of the airport,
she's getting good marks," said Robert Downs, president of the Aero Club of
Pittsburgh. "She seems to be very capable, very aviation-oriented and
someone that would do a conscientious job."

Saracco said her top priority is to increase the use of the airport by
general aviation, corporate and student pilots. She also is overseeing
several capital projects, including new lighting for the main runway.

Saracco, a member of the Aero Club and the American Association of Airport
Executives, holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and an
associate's degree in aviation management. Her husband is an operations duty
manager at Pittsburgh International Airport. They have two children,
Christopher, 11, and Samantha, 9.

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