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

"I think the silver lining is that we will adapt to all of this," says Gittens. "We will be fine as long as we make the right decisions and proceed strategically, We have a strong market. We will have the infrastructure, both the utilities stuff and right facilities, because we have thought ahead toward when the economy rebounds and air traffic rebounds."

While Gittens remains worried about the short term--"and this short term is longer than they usually are," she quips--she says she is "very optimistic" about the future. "It's still a global economy. That's not going to change. The markets are set up that way, and you can stifle it, and cause everything to be depressed, but you are not going to change it."