Miami International Airport Travel Soars as Traveler Services Continue to Decline

MIAMI—The Miami International Airport (MIA)  recently boasted that its 2023 fiscal year saw a “historic” surge in international and domestic travel, not to mention praising Miami-Dade County’s efforts to address the airport’s long-standing maintenance issues.

Earlier this year, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced that a significant investment in MIA’s infrastructure would be made and at the same time managed to blame her predecessor, former Mayor and Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R), for the maintenance woes the airport faces.

Rep. Gimenez took issue with Mayor Cava pointing the finger at him and saying that MIA was neglected under her watch.

“The airport always had the money needed to perform the maintenance,” stated Rep. Gimenez. “And she’s been the Mayor for 3 years!”

But just as MIA struggles to address its infrastructure problems, customer service and the overall travel experience of travelers is also taking a big hit.

American Airlines, which has the largest presence of any other airline at MIA, has reverted to hiring from within to address other questionable airport services like the offloading of baggage and basic airplane cleaning, including lavatory upkeep.

On February 23, 2023, passengers aboard an  American Airlines flight from Tallahassee to Miami had to endure an hour-long flight inhaling fecal matter as both lavatories were compromised.

The Floridian was told by the flight attendant working for the flight that the plane from Miami was delayed because the airline couldn’t find a crew to fix the issue on the plane.

The flight finally arrived in Tallahassee and upon arrival, gate agents asked that passengers about to board should use the bathrooms before boarding because the lavatories on the plane were disabled.

The aircraft filled with lobbyists, lawmakers, and Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez, stunk.

The American Airlines “poop flight” incident was not an isolated event that occurred at MIA.

Every day passengers endure instances of frustration at airports like MIA due to poor or lacking ground services, particularly when it comes to their personal belongings.

MIA has arguably one of the slowest offloading of baggage services.

Speaking from personal experience, on several instances, it took over 15 minutes to find a worker to retrieve our strollers from the plane's cargo, and even longer for our checked luggage to make it out of the conveyor belt in baggage claim.

What gives?

Who is running ground services at MIA?