Glad to see improvements are on the horizon. Hotel plans look great.

https://www.thenextmiami.com/big-expans ... l-airport/

It’s been forever since I’ve been to MIA. Was G ever renovated from its 1970s vintageness?

What’s going to happen to the iconic...but VERY vintage...Hotel MIA. Back In the 90s, the MIA offered the use of a nice pool deck; small gym and clean showers to travellers between flights for the nominal sum of $3. I spent many hours up there between flights tanning; working out and showering in preparation for my onward travel.

I doubt half of this is actually going to get built. This replaces the equally grandiose “Airport City” proposal that never got off the ground.

The improvements to the Central Terminal are long overdue, but the hotels seem unnecessary and construction for them is going to snarl traffic into the airport for a decade.

millionsofmiles wrote:

It’s been forever since I’ve been to MIA. Was G ever renovated from its 1970s vintageness?

Nope. Pockets of the 1970s also exist at gates F4/F6/F8 and H12/H15/H14/H17.

What? they are going to tear down concourse G but will basically do nothing to the 1960's feel concourse E?

miaami wrote:

Glad to see improvements are on the horizon. Hotel plans look great.

https://www.thenextmiami.com/big-expans ... l-airport/

The hotel is MIA's biggest asset, and they have let it turn into a dump.

There are so many hotels on LeJune within less than a mile radius who needs one at the airport much less two, if we go to a mile the number of hotels is just crazy, all types and price ranges, and all offer free shuttle bus transfers. IMHO MIA does not need additional hotels.
Better to spend more funds on the terminals and client services, the walkways to the Mover could be more robust, and if the decision is that no
a/c is needed between the terminal and garage proper at least get more ventilation, without a/c it can be uncomfortable.

As to which century construction will finish is anyone's guess.

chonetsao wrote:

What? they are going to tear down concourse G but will basically do nothing to the 1960's feel concourse E?

The E gates were renovated a year or two ago and feature new lighting and floors. It’s not a 2010s facility, but it’s also not as clearly dated as it used to be and is on par with the 1980s portion of Concourse D.

OB1504 wrote:

I doubt half of this is actually going to get built. This replaces the equally grandiose “Airport City” proposal that never got off the ground.

The improvements to the Central Terminal are long overdue, but the hotels seem unnecessary and construction for them is going to snarl traffic into the airport for a decade.

millionsofmiles wrote:

It’s been forever since I’ve been to MIA. Was G ever renovated from its 1970s vintageness?

Nope. Pockets of the 1970s also exist at gates F4/F6/F8 and H12/H15/H14/H17.

I remember when the F gates were National...then Pan Am...then United. Flew out of them many times as a kid on National/Pan Am. I remember them when they still had the 1960s bus station look, and then the 1970s total refurb.

I also remember when all of H was Delta, and then shared with Piedmont, and eventually, the beginnings of AA’s hub in 1988-1989. (AA was originally on G st a gate leased from Northwest Orient.)

Hard to believe that time has stood still for the G gates, as well as the named F and H gates.

MIA's concourse F, G & H need to be torn down and something new built there and it should not take 20 years like A took. Miami politics know how to slow down everything. F and G remind us of the Port Authority Bus terminal in New York. MDAD should think boldly and quickly, time is of the essence, PAN AM last flew 28 years ago and concourse F still looks like PA uses it.

When I was living on South Beach, it took them 5 years to do a basic refurb of Lincoln Road Mall.

I’m not holding my breath on this one.

Hahahaha
Having lived in S Fla since the late '50's and observing the politics involved with any airport construction/renovation project (see Concourse D as the latest example) the cronyism, political graft, fraud, corruption, nepotism, $8,000 toilets etc will double the cost of this endeavor AT THE LEAST.

The actual terminal construction will go to bid at least 5 times until those who are well connected and can grease the pockets of The Downtown Boys the most are awarded the contracts.
I've experienced it.

Hell, it took 6 bids just to get a contract in place for Self Service Luggage Carts and you don't want to know how the Baggage Wrapping Stations contract deal was awarded.

Miami-Dade County Government - The best at Third World politics

Can’t wait to see these new terminals in 3019

I can’t think of a time in the past 35 years where MIA wasn’t under construction in some form or another; might as well keep it going!

What would really be nice as noted above are better and larger moving walkways upstairs and moving walkways downstairs. However, the terminal other than the South end tends to be packed with little additional area. As with anything in Miami Dade it will be a never ending project that doesn't ever get totally finished.

I haven’t been there in so long

I’m shocked that those 1970s concourses are still in use

The last time I was there, that hotel was very dated

I also remember when they used to charge you a small fee to use the pool and tan.

It was awesome.

Do they still do that today?

FlyingElvii wrote:

miaami wrote:

Glad to see improvements are on the horizon. Hotel plans look great.

https://www.thenextmiami.com/big-expans ... l-airport/

The hotel is MIA's biggest asset, and they have let it turn into a dump.

The number of nice hotels in the neighborhood make this less critical. Not sure the renovation and upgrade is worth it honestly - this isn't the 1960's with a limited number of nearby hotels.

Are they preparing for the facility (and the city) to be underwater by 2050?

The D60 gates are like a portal to hell. It is worse than most 3rd world airports down there. Miami agents feel like they have to scream every announcement and then speak over one another when doing so. So you often end up with 2 or 3 agents screaming about their flights at the same time.

gatorfan wrote:

The D60 gates are like a portal to hell. It is worse than most 3rd world airports down there. Miami agents feel like they have to scream every announcement and then speak over one another when doing so. So you often end up with 2 or 3 agents screaming about their flights at the same time.

And yet it’s still a massive improvement over the D35 dungeon from a decade ago.

lydh wrote:

Are they preparing for the facility (and the city) to be underwater by 2050?

The PBS News Hour had a piece a couple of months ago with a professor of FIU that said, that large parts of Miami will be underwater by 2100 and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. He clarified, he's not talking Atlantis where the water would be 50+ feet deep but he said 3 to 5 feet of near-perpetual flooding.

He wasn't even advocating for any policy change. He stated it as a foregone conclusion and that no change, however, dramatic would alter that reality and that people should just accept that.

OB1504 wrote:

And yet it’s still a massive improvement over the D35 dungeon from a decade ago.

I used to be an exclusive Delta flyer back then so never really experienced it. I can't imagine how bad it must be if the current D60 is an improvement.

jfklganyc wrote:

I haven’t been there in so long

I’m shocked that those 1970s concourses are still in use

The last time I was there, that hotel was very dated

I also remember when they used to charge you a small fee to use the pool and tan.

It was awesome.

Do they still do that today?

Rooftop pool has been closed for years. Check google earth; looks like they stopped filling it with water after 9/11 and then completely expanded the indoor space on the roof covering over the area where the former pool was located. No more rooftop pool, sorry.

I just love how the person writing the memo included in the linked article refers to a 773 as "Jumbo Aircraft" ... I can't recall ever referring to any 777 as a "jumbo jet" to be honest...

Well with the demise of the A380 and the 747 / 8i, 777W size a/c will soon be the defacto Jumbo.

I hate MIA...never organized....the city roadways are never done with construction and and now they want to make the airport a never ending construction site.....

There is no mention of improving and/or enlarging the FIS facilities. The biggest problems I have ever experienced at MIA have always involved inbound Customs-and-Immigration, where lines can snake through the bowels of the airport for more than an hour. I now avoid MIA like the plague.

Brightening-up the topside isn't going to change that experience.

It's crazy to think that AA's North Terminal is already outdated. Indeed, the D60 facility where you could walk right to your ATR 72 was a major improvement over the bus rides from D35. Obviously it wasn't designed with the E175 in mind, considering this type of plane typically uses jet bridges (in the U.S., at least). I also got the impression that the mainline portion of terminal was very ill-equipped for large widebody aircraft. When arriving from LAX on a 777-200, it took so long for what was then AA's flagship plane to get parked and offloaded that I had to sprint to make my RSW connection. Obviously my baggage didn't make the MIA-RSW flight, and the AA baggage office agent at RSW told me something along the lines of "I'm hardly surprised - I get people every night whose bags missed that connection". As such, I was hardly surprised when AA cut the MIA-RSW flights - who in their right mind would ever want to connect through MIA? Experiences like those are the reason why I typically avoid flying AA these days (it doesn't sound like they've gotten any better in recent years).

My last trip from MIA was on UA out of the Central Terminal. It's crazy to think that UA went from bad (Concourse F) to worse (Concourse G) at MIA. Now that MCI, LGA, ORD Terminal 2 and LAX Terminal 3 are in the midst of getting completely overhauled, MIA's Central Terminal is probably hands down the worst commercial airport facility anywhere in the U.S. - hardly befitting of such a great city and luxurious destination. Indeed, the experience is a truly embarrassing first/last impression of the United States considering how many foreign travelers pass through this terminal.

I'd like to see them find a way to extend the Mover to a station on the west side of the airport. That would eliminate a decent chunk of traffic, as people coming from western Miami-Dade and Broward counties would not be on 36th St or the Dolphin where the merge and construction starts. It'll never happen, but it would be nice.

Some more highlights from Miami International Airport.

https://twitter.com/iflymia/status/1128 ... ort.com%2F


The new AA Eagle terminal should be a big improvement over the current operation.

I've never been to MIA, so I ask this as an outsider: Doesn't MIA already have some of the highest landing fees in the country? Any idea on how much those fees will climb with this work? Are the airlines onboard with this? More curiosity on my part, since crushing debt loads and high landing fees seem to be all anyone talks about when it comes to my home airport of IAD.

msp747 wrote:

I've never been to MIA, so I ask this as an outsider: Doesn't MIA already have some of the highest landing fees in the country? Any idea on how much those fees will climb with this work? Are the airlines onboard with this? More curiosity on my part, since crushing debt loads and high landing fees seem to be all anyone talks about when it comes to my home airport of IAD.

MIAs fees are the most overstated a net myth out there, they're in line with most big airports

As far as the hotel project goes, it's privately funded

plus the city has a glut of money at the moment, logical step would be to invest in public transport but this city is run by clowns so they'll probably give themselves a raise until next election cycle where they'll campaign on public transport, get reelected and then say there's not money for public transport

Miami is a city doomed for failure, climate change is just the icing on the cake

The Miami airport is embarrassing for the city state and USA, frankly it is a dump. Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa airports are nice. Bad first impression of the city and state.

Unfortunately, I have to travel via Miami on American to the Carribean frequently for business from JAX, which requires use of D60 every time. I do use JB at FLL whenever possible which is much better than American in Miami.

No hotels needed as pointed out in other posts. Tear down existing terminal hotel, build a new central terminal, then rebuild each concourse except for the newer American concourse. However, the "D60" mess needs to be demolished, replaced with generic gates and jet bridges built to accommodate every type of regional aircraft. D 60 is certainly better than the D35 fiasco but still 2nd world.

Customs needs big improvement as pointed out, terribly slow, unlike Atlanta, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa where it is much more efficient.

FF630 wrote:

the "D60" mess needs to be demolished, replaced with generic gates and jet bridges built to accommodate every type of regional aircraft. D 60 is certainly better than the D35 fiasco but still 2nd world.

According to the video posted upthread, this is being addressed... thank goodness. I love concourse D, except for D60.

FF630 wrote:

The Miami airport is embarrassing for the city state and USA, frankly it is a dump. Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa airports are nice. Bad first impression of the city and state.

You clearly haven't been to FLL if you think FLL is "nice." It's one of the biggest dumps of an airport in the States. Miami has two very nice facilities in the North and South Concourse, but the Central Concourse is a mess.

And calling immigration at FLL pleasant, well, you definitely haven't been through it at FLL then! One of the worst in the country.

More can be found here: https://www.scribd.com/document/4102743 ... from_embed

Another link to future plans
https://www.thenextmiami.com/miami-inte ... assengers/

It looks like they’re going to delete a narrowbody gate from the D14-D37 area to turn two gates into widebody gates, and turn the 3 767 gates D40, D44 & D50 into 4 narrowbody gates.

It also looks like F will keep the same layout but with a total interior rebuild, deleting the unused ITI lounge on the third level in favor of more open space. Hopefully F4/F6/F8 get connected to the FIS as part of this.

With the demolition of G, it looks like the airport will be losing gates overall, though. The net count at D will stay the same, J (or K?) will gain 3 gates, but 11 gates at G will be lost.

I wonder where the Eagle planes will park during the D60 work considering that they’ve already outgrown the facility and are using the E Satellite more and more now.

It’s interesting that the expansion to the Flamingo Garage is labeled “Park 6 Garage” when the airport moved away from the numbered parking garages more than two decades ago.

MAH4546 wrote:

FF630 wrote:

The Miami airport is embarrassing for the city state and USA, frankly it is a dump. Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa airports are nice. Bad first impression of the city and state.

You clearly haven't been to FLL if you think FLL is "nice." It's one of the biggest dumps of an airport in the States. Miami has two very nice facilities in the North and South Concourse, but the Central Concourse is a mess.

And calling immigration at FLL pleasant, well, you definitely haven't been through it at FLL then! One of the worst in the country.

Thank you for pointing this out. FLL has been on a steady decline over the past decade. I feel FLL simply can't handle the volume it's grown to, at least in the terminal where AA is. The concession area where the Pei Wei is and the Uber pick up area are specifically maddening. If I'm travelling to anywhere from Sunny Isles south, MIA it is -- bright and airy terminal with ample concession areas (and Admirals Clubs) ... as well as covered Uber pick up area from whichever door I happen to be exiting.
Anything north of Sunny Isles though, I just bite the bullet and fly into FLL due to freeway traffic issues.

row44seatk wrote:

Hahahaha
Having lived in S Fla since the late '50's and observing the politics involved with any airport construction/renovation project (see Concourse D as the latest example) the cronyism, political graft, fraud, corruption, nepotism, $8,000 toilets etc will double the cost of this endeavor AT THE LEAST.

The actual terminal construction will go to bid at least 5 times until those who are well connected and can grease the pockets of The Downtown Boys the most are awarded the contracts.
I've experienced it.

Hell, it took 6 bids just to get a contract in place for Self Service Luggage Carts and you don't want to know how the Baggage Wrapping Stations contract deal was awarded.

Miami-Dade County Government - The best at Third World politics

Given the fact that cronyism, fraud, corruption and nepotism is part and parcel with government infrastructure projects and more all throughout the country, I wouldn’t call it 3rd world politics, it’s simply American politics.

77H

SurfandSnow wrote:

It's crazy to think that AA's North Terminal is already outdated. Indeed, the D60 facility where you could walk right to your ATR 72 was a major improvement over the bus rides from D35. Obviously it wasn't designed with the E175 in mind, considering this type of plane typically uses jet bridges (in the U.S., at least). I also got the impression that the mainline portion of terminal was very ill-equipped for large widebody aircraft. When arriving from LAX on a 777-200, it took so long for what was then AA's flagship plane to get parked and offloaded that I had to sprint to make my RSW connection. Obviously my baggage didn't make the MIA-RSW flight, and the AA baggage office agent at RSW told me something along the lines of "I'm hardly surprised - I get people every night whose bags missed that connection". As such, I was hardly surprised when AA cut the MIA-RSW flights - who in their right mind would ever want to connect through MIA? Experiences like those are the reason why I typically avoid flying AA these days (it doesn't sound like they've gotten any better in recent years).

My last trip from MIA was on UA out of the Central Terminal. It's crazy to think that UA went from bad (Concourse F) to worse (Concourse G) at MIA. Now that MCI, LGA, ORD Terminal 2 and LAX Terminal 3 are in the midst of getting completely overhauled, MIA's Central Terminal is probably hands down the worst commercial airport facility anywhere in the U.S. - hardly befitting of such a great city and luxurious destination. Indeed, the experience is a truly embarrassing first/last impression of the United States considering how many foreign travelers pass through this terminal.

The terminal is just fine, it’s AA specifically that has problems offloading aircraft in a timely manner for some reason. I’ve always had to wait at least 40 minutes for my bags... until I stopped flying them.

United was in Concourse J when it first opened, and the concourse was originally intended to be the home of their MIA focus city, which had become a distant memory by the time the terminal was finished. Continental was in Concourse H, but once the merger was final there wasn’t enough room for their combined operation in either concourse so it was off to G they went.

With the May schedule, the majority of United’s flights are now using gates in H, specifically H3, H6, H12, and H14. Only RONs are in G now.

FF630 wrote:

The Miami airport is embarrassing for the city state and USA, frankly it is a dump. Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa airports are nice. Bad first impression of the city and state.

Have you not seen the massive cluster that is the security checkpoints at MCO? It’s the worst security line I’ve seen at any airport in the US.

AAtakeMeAway wrote:

MAH4546 wrote:

FF630 wrote:

The Miami airport is embarrassing for the city state and USA, frankly it is a dump. Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa airports are nice. Bad first impression of the city and state.

You clearly haven't been to FLL if you think FLL is "nice." It's one of the biggest dumps of an airport in the States. Miami has two very nice facilities in the North and South Concourse, but the Central Concourse is a mess.

And calling immigration at FLL pleasant, well, you definitely haven't been through it at FLL then! One of the worst in the country.

Thank you for pointing this out. FLL has been on a steady decline over the past decade. I feel FLL simply can't handle the volume it's grown to, at least in the terminal where AA is. The concession area where the Pei Wei is and the Uber pick up area are specifically maddening. If I'm travelling to anywhere from Sunny Isles south, MIA it is -- bright and airy terminal with ample concession areas (and Admirals Clubs) ... as well as covered Uber pick up area from whichever door I happen to be exiting.
Anything north of Sunny Isles though, I just bite the bullet and fly into FLL due to freeway traffic issues.

The worst thing about FLL is the driveway. Four lanes but only one curb and half of the curb at any given terminal can’t be used for drop offs and pick ups because it’s reserved for buses or taxis or police. They could massively reduce the congestion by eliminating one of the middle lanes and replacing it with a second curb. Maybe do something like MIA where only buses and taxis can use the inner driveway.

That being said, Terminals 1 and 4 are lovely, but the rest of the airport has clearly fallen victim to its own success.

OB1504 wrote:

gatorfan wrote:

The D60 gates are like a portal to hell. It is worse than most 3rd world airports down there. Miami agents feel like they have to scream every announcement and then speak over one another when doing so. So you often end up with 2 or 3 agents screaming about their flights at the same time.

And yet it’s still a massive improvement over the D35 dungeon from a decade ago.

Take in this crew, they know airports

Miamiairport wrote:

What would really be nice as noted above are better and larger moving walkways upstairs and moving walkways downstairs. However, the terminal other than the South end tends to be packed with little additional area. As with anything in Miami Dade it will be a never ending project that doesn't ever get totally finished.

...better and larger WORKING moving walkways upstairs

you forgot to add the word *working* . I fly out of MIA exclusively and every trip at least one moving sidewalk is out of service...

Miami-Dade commissioners voted yesterday to approve the $5 billion plan.

ctrabs0114 wrote:

I just love how the person writing the memo included in the linked article refers to a 773 as "Jumbo Aircraft" ... I can't recall ever referring to any 777 as a "jumbo jet" to be honest...

Back in the day, the first generation of widebodies (also including DC-10 and L-1011) were all often referred to as jumbo jets. The 747 was the first, and later on it kind of became the only plane that kept the name.