WTE Daily sat down with Ralph Cutié, Director and CEO of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, to discuss the huge growth of Miami International Airport (MIA) and its widespread upgrade plans

Miami’s international hub is not only seeing important growth in passenger and cargo traffic, the airport is also undergoing extensive renovation.

Passenger traffic at MIA has grown at a record-setting pace this year. Can you share some details about this growth and the factors driving it?
Our growth is driven primarily by hub carrier American Airlines (AA), which serves 60% of our passengers. The airline’s passenger traffic is up 8% at MIA this year, and their winter schedule will have 11% more departures than last year. Additionally, this year, MIA has added four new airlines.

MIA has major upgrades planned. Can you tell us about these projects and their timelines?
Over the next 10 years, we’re investing more than $7B in major future-ready improvement projects. Our Flamingo parking garage extension will add 2,240 new parking spaces. Scheduled for completion in 2025, the new garage will include 50 spaces for EV charging, energy-efficient LED lighting fixtures, and a Parksmart Silver Certification design. 
MIA’s new Concourse K, scheduled for completion in 2029, will expand the airport for the first time in 15 years by adding six gates and more restaurants and shops. Phase 1 of Central Terminal redevelopment, scheduled for completion in 2031, will renovate all four levels of MIA’s oldest area. Phase 2 of Central Terminal redevelopment, also scheduled for 2031, will renovate the pre-security areas in Concourses E and F. Our Concourse D West expansion, scheduled for completion in 2034, will renovate the D60 area into gates that can serve wide- and narrow-body aircraft as well as larger regional jets.

What other initiatives are in progress to enhance the customer experience at MIA?
Our Modernization in Action (M.I.A.) Plan is implementing $1.7B in upgrades to elevators, escalators, and moving walkways. The plan is also renovating more than 200 restrooms and 126 passenger boarding bridges.

Can you explain the I AM MIA campaign you launched in March?
In the first phase of the campaign, we deployed Lightning Crew teams to strategically handle small-scale maintenance issues and patrol the terminal to proactively address passenger questions and concerns. 
The campaign is improving our customer satisfaction ratings. From April to June 2024, our overall customer satisfaction scores with J.D. Power increased by 23 points.
In July we launched the second phase, our “I AM MIA” customer service training for MIA employees, with the goal that all employees treat customers the way they would treat their loved ones.

Moving up the ranks of global aviation

Not only did MIA have its second consecutive record-breaking year for passengers last year, with a new all-time-high of 52.3M, the airport also saw its cargo traffic grow to an unprecedented level for the fourth year in a row, achieving 2.8 million tons. Thanks to this growth, MIA has continued to advance in the Airport Council International’s rankings of the busiest airports in the world. “After last year’s performance, MIA is still the #1 airport in U.S. for international freight but is now #6 in the world. MIA remains the #2 airport in the U.S. for international passengers and #10 in the U.S. for total passengers,” said Mr. Cutié. “Because of our explosive growth in passenger and cargo traffic in 2024, we expect to see our world rankings continue to climb.”

Stand 105