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Two years’ worth of items — including jewelry, electronics and a lava lamp — left behind at Pittsburgh International Airport will be up for sale later this month, as the annual auction returns in person after a year off.
A fire truck, nine abandoned vehicles, runway brooms and plows and nearly 1,000 pieces of jewelry will be on the auction block, airport officials said. Other items of note include an Elf on the Shelf, a portable toilet seat, a rice cooker, a pair of designer shoes and more than 500 electronics.
“We have two years’ worth of left-behind items for the public due to a scaled-down, online-only event last year,” said Dawn Bailey, manager of landside and terminal operations for the Allegheny County Airport Authority.
The Oct. 23 auction starts at 10 a.m. at the Heavy Equipment Building on Cargo Road. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. Two food trucks, Divine Swine and Steel City Fries, will be on hand. Masks are required.
The 2019 auction, the last one to be held in person, saw the highest turnout in the auction’s nine-year history. Among larger items auctioned off that year: a former Allegheny County Bomb Squad truck for $8,500.
The auction was held online in 2020 because of the pandemic. The virtual auction saw a 2012 Chevy Silverado sell for more than $18,000, a 2018 Camaro go for $26,000 and a 2006 Nissan Murano for $1,100.
Any cars sold must be towed from the site unless they’re purchased by a dealer, and registration will be held at the auction. Anything purchased must be gone within seven days. Buyers are subject to a 15% premium, though 5% will be waived for cash or check purchases.
Some items will be available for bidding online at joerpyleauctions.com.
Proceeds from items not owned by the Airport Authority go to the ACAA Charitable Foundation, which supports Pittsburgh International’s military lounge, the Art in the Airport program, workforce development and aviation scholarships.
Already, the Airport Authority has donated multiple boxes of items left more than a month in the airport’s lost and found, including dozens of boxes of clothing that went to Circles of Greater Pittsburgh. Unclaimed glasses were donated to the Lions Club’s Pittsburgh chapter.
Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, mguza@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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