Down time: predictions of when Miami International Airport will return to pre-9/11 levels continue to stretch further into the future. Where once it was 2004, now it's 2006. So what's an airport to do? Finish a massive capital improvement program so it will be ready when boom times return - Air///State of the Ports 2003

South Florida CEO, March, 2003 by J.P. Faber

Figuring out how well Miami International Airport is faring these days is a little like the tale of the six blind men who were asked what sort of a creature an elephant was. Each described the creature differently, depending on where he touched it. The same can be said of the airport. If it's a question of passenger traffic, forget it. If it's a question of cargo or construction, things are not so bad.

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"If you believe in the future, this is the time to build," says Mark Massman, program manager for Dade Aviation Consultants, the consortium of companies overseeing the $4.8 billion capital improvement program at Miami-Dade's international airport. "Basically, the best time to do this program is now, with the traffic being down. It's sort of a silver lining to 9/11. When the airline industry comes out of its problems, we'll be sitting here, ready, with new terminals and a new runway."

Massman, and Carlos Bonzon of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, are the two point-men for the project, charged with overseeing progress. Both relish each development as it approaches completion as though they were placing model buildings on a train set just in time for Christmas. And with $2.5 billion of the projects actually under construction, the capital improvement program is now in its peak phase.

The three biggest pieces of the program are: the North Terminal, a 1.3-mile stretch of 48 new gates that will principally serve American Airlines; the South Terminal, which will add a whole new section to the horseshoe "curbside" of MIA; and the so-called Fourth Runway, which will basically increase the airport's landing capacity 25 percent. The new runway is scheduled to be finished by this summer, with the official ribbon cutting set for September. Both new terminals will be finished by 2006, with the first section of the North Terminal set to open later this year.

"When you talk about the total investment in capital improvements in the airport, it's much larger than $4.8 billion," says Massman. "That's just the MIA portion of it." Also included are huge cargo buildings built by private carriers, Florida Department of Transportation road improvements and plans for a nearby private, state and federally-funded $1.5 billion transportation center known as the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC), located across Le Jeune Road from the airport. The space for the MIC, which cost $153 million to empty of existing businesses, has already been cleared for construction. The airport is earmarked to kick in some $230 million toward the people-mover section of the project once the other elements--facilities for car rentals, trains, buses and light rail--are complete.

"Basically, wherever you look, this airport is under construction," says Massman. "I don't think there is another airport in the US with as much construction going on." Score that to MIA's advantage. While 80 percent of the cost will ultimately be paid by user fees (bond issues are covering the cash flow in the meantime), the remaining 20 percent is being paid for via government grants. With so much going on at MIA, it's in a prime position to scoop up whatever grant money there is out there. "A lot of things are coming together for us," says Massman.

Beyond the big items, there are scores of minor projects, as well as massive utility improvements unseen by the public: one "Central Collection Plaza" that replaces all the payment booths for the parking lots; new terminals for buses that transport passengers to cruise ships; huge new drainage systems. More visible is the work on the airport's giant "Chiller" building, which cools the entire airport. It has to double in size because, when all is said and done, the terminal space at the airport will have grown from 3.5 million square feet in 1995 to 8.6 million square feet by 2006; it's already at 5 million square feet with the addition of the A and H terminals two years ago.

Still, says Bonzon, the program is not about size. "The basic premise behind the capital improvement program is not just more gates," he says. "It's about the efficiency of the layout. The layout for American Airlines, for example, was completely inefficient."

If efficiency is the name of the game--and the original motivation for the capital program--the feeling that MIA's capacity will soon be stretched to the limit has, for now, abated. In fact, it will be at least another few years before MIA's passenger load returns to where it was before 9/11.

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"The really good news is that our capital program is going well," says Miami-Dade Aviation director Angela Gittens, who runs the airport. "Within our four walls, we are doing great. If the economy--the outside world--would just cooperate, we'd be fine."

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Air traffic is down worldwide, major airlines are suffering enormous losses, and the principal trade and travel partners of South Florida are in economic trouble.

"At MIA, we are tracking better than a year ago, and we are ahead in terms of number of enplanements and revenues," says Gittens. "The industry, however, has deteriorated substantially, and that is causing us to revise our business plan. The environment we are in is looking much, much worse. In 2003, I see nothing on the horizon that gives [this industry] a glimmer of hope."