Tabla de Contenido/ Table of Contents
- 1 Miami International Airport (MIA): Major Expenses with No Tangible Results for Miami-Dade in 2025.. The daily reality facing passengers and residents under the management of Daniella Levine Cava, Ralph Cutié.
Miami International Airport (MIA): Major Expenses with No Tangible Results for Miami-Dade in 2025.. The daily reality facing passengers and residents under the management of Daniella Levine Cava, Ralph Cutié.
Despite the fact that Miami International Airport (MIA) continues to break growth records in passengers and cargo, a review of the latest reports from its Capital Program reveals that, of the billions invested in recent years, only very partial progress has been seen in critical improvements for those who actually use the airport: the moving walkways, elevators, escalators, and public restrooms. Below, we present an analysis of where the money has been spent and why residents and visitors continue to endure fragile infrastructure conditions.
Conveyance Units (escalators, elevators, moving walkways)
| Concept | April 2025 | May 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total units | 616 | 616 | – |
| Out of service | 32 | 31 | –1 (–3 %) |
| • Elevators | 5 | 5 | – |
| • Escalators | 10 | 8 | –2 (–20 %) |
| • Moving walkways | 17 | 18 | +1 (+6 %) |
| Under construction | 18 | 34 | +16 (+89 %) |
| Under procurement | 31 | 10 | –21 |
| Renovations completed | 33 | 37 | +4 (+12 %) |
Interpretation: In one month, MIA reduced by one the total number of units out of service (from 32 to 31), but dramatically increased ongoing works (+16 projects), suggesting a surge in contracts. The pace of renovations advanced from 33 to 37—covering only 6 % of the 616 units in one month.
Public-Access Restrooms
| Concept | April 2025 | May 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total restrooms | 207 | 207 | – |
| Under construction | 10 | 10 | – |
| Under permitting | 8 | 8 | – |
| Under design | 141 | 141 | – |
| Renovations completed | 48 | 48 | – |
Interpretation: No progress on restrooms: 159 of 207 (77 %) remain pending design, permits, or construction, and only 48 (23 %) are finished.
Passenger Boarding Bridges (PBBs)
| Concept | April 2025 | May 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Total bridges | 128 | 128 |
| Out of service | 1 | 1 |
| Under construction | 14 | 1(Unit) |
| Pending NTP/Procurement | 32 | 10 |
| Renovations completed | — | 14 |
¹ One replacement unit installed
² 14 bridges completed
Note: The drop from 14 to 1 “under construction” indicates MIA installed one replacement unit; procurement pendings fell from 32 to 10, and 14 bridges were finished.
Total Investment vs. Results
| Category | 2023–24 | 2024–25 (to April) | Total Invested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boarding Bridges | $420 M | $120 M | $540 M |
| Conveyance Units | $180 M | $50 M | $230 M |
| Public Restrooms | $60 M | $25 M | $85 M |
| TOTAL | $855 M |
Conclusion: With nearly $860 M invested, tangible progress is minimal: 33 of 616 conveyance units, 48 of 207 restrooms, and 32 of 128 bridges. The investment/output ratio is barely 5–25 % depending on the component. Only a small percentage of critical infrastructure has been effectively renovated. In many cases, work proceeds more on paperwork (design and procurement) than on tangible construction. At this pace, reaching 100 % completion would take years and require a substantial additional budget.
Recommendation: Redirect and prioritize investment to:
- Speed up renovations already under contract.
- Ensure no conveyance unit is out of service more than 30 days.
- Increase on-site quick-response supervision to detect and fix mechanical failures instantly.
- Publish detailed monthly reports of delivered units versus procurement/design, with clear completion estimates.
This analysis, based on the April and May 2025 Reports, evidences the delay and misalignment between multimillion-dollar investments and the concrete improvements experienced by MIA passengers and residents.
Non-Compliance with Ordinance 19-122
Ordinance 19-122 (Section 2-285.2 of the Miami-Dade Code) mandates the monthly publication of the “Aviation Capital Program Report,” detailing procurement and financial status of all projects.
- Reports available online: February, March, and April 2025.
- January 2025 report: Not found online, violating the legal schedule.
- May 2025 report: Pending publication, also missing the “every month” delivery requirement.
Responsible Parties and Cover-Up
- Daniella Levine Cava (Mayor): Promised a modern MIA but prioritized other budget items.
- Ralph Cutié (MDAD Director): Long record of “masking” failures and delays.
- Kevin Cabrera (ex-Aviation Commissioner, now Ambassador): Had voice to denounce, but management was poorly attended and fragmented.
- Current executives: Insufficient oversight power and lack of real demand for results.
- 13 Miami-Dade County Commissioners.
The Voice of Users: Aleimy Acosta’s Testimony
On June 4, 2025, Miami resident Aleimy Acosta (54) suffered a serious injury using an escalator in MIA’s Terminal B:
“While ascending, my hand became trapped in the handrail. I bled up to my elbow; my nail was torn off. Nobody stopped the escalator or offered help. I waited over 20 minutes, and upon returning the escalator was still broken in service. At the hospital, they gave me four stitches and diagnosed a fracture. This reveals the terrible disconnect between reported 95 % operational stats and the dangerous reality passengers face.”
Incident Key Points
- Lack of immediate inspection: The escalator continued to operate while damaged.
- Inaction by MIA staff: No one stopped the unit or assisted the injured.
- Ongoing risk to vulnerable users.
Below is the letter written by the incident’s own victim—a first-person account that lays bare the lack of care and the poor treatment she received after suffering a serious injury inside Miami International Airport’s facilities. This testimony is especially relevant given the public accolades that, according to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Director Ralph Cutié, make MIA “multi-awarded” and a model of excellence. Now, let us hear her experience directly.
✏️📩 Letter
My name is Aleimy Acosta. Today is June 8, 2025.
I am 54 years old and have lived in the city of Miami for 37 years.
On June 4, 2025, at approximately 9 PM, I arrived at Miami International Airport with a friend who was going to the Spirit Airlines counter to buy tickets to visit her son.
We parked on the first floor of Terminal 16, and as we entered the airport we headed for the escalator to go up to the second floor. The escalator is narrow; my friend stepped on first and stood on the right side. I stepped one step behind her and stood on the left side, placing my hand on the handrail. Immediately I felt a horrible pain as if my thumb were being cut. I didn’t understand what was happening—all within fractions of a second. I pulled my hand with all my strength to free it. I couldn’t see where it was caught because everything was moving: the escalator, the handrail, the indescribable pain. When I looked at my hand, it was bleeding with wounds; my nail had been lifted from back to front. My friend and I couldn’t understand what had happened.
Why did my hand get trapped that way?
The pain was VERY, VERY STRONG. It was such intense pain I have no words to describe it. Within 30 seconds we were already on the second floor, full of questions without answers… I was holding my left hand with my right hand—both covered in blood, running from my hands to my elbows—my friend, very nervous trying to help me, thought I was going to faint from the pain. After a few minutes of despair and without a single person approaching to help or ask what had happened, we saw an airport employee. We quickly asked him for help: “SIR, PLEASE HELP US, CALL RESCUE!” The man left and we never saw him again. My friend, seeing that nobody did anything, called rescue herself, while caring for me, both of us crying nervously. The rescue team arrived between 20 and 25 minutes later.
Meanwhile, we saw two police officers and asked them for help. They stopped, asked us what happened, and while we explained, I cried with unbearable pain. I remember repeatedly saying, “How COULD THIS HAPPEN? How DID MY HAND GET STUCK?”
“Please stop the escalator and check what happened, stop it so nobody else gets injured!”
But unfortunately nobody did anything.
Finally, four rescuers arrived who all minimized what happened, saying, “THIS IS SOMETHING THAT VERY RARELY HAPPENS.” They cleaned some blood from my hands, put on gauze, and told me, “IT’S NOTHING, YOU’LL LOSE THAT NAIL, DON’T REMOVE THE BANDAGE FOR 3 DAYS.”
That was it. I felt worse than an animal. If my dog got cut, I would take her to a veterinarian to be treated by a doctor.
Minutes later, two men arrived identifying themselves as:
(Miami-Dade Aviation Department Terminal Operations accident report)
Phone: (305) 876-7777
They asked us again what had happened. We explained while I insisted: “CHECK THE ESCALATOR PLEASE, I CAN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED.” I insisted… “A CHILD OR AN ELDERLY PERSON COULD SUFFER WORSE CONSEQUENCES!”
How sad it was for me and my friend to see the indifference, lack of empathy, egocentric selfishness, and emotional coldness of those supposed to provide care and safety. Nobody apologized, nobody checked the escalator, nobody took responsibility that I was injured due to someone’s negligence that could have ended much worse. As if my safety there—and the safety of all users—were nobody’s responsibility in this place so traveled by locals and people from around the world.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MIAMI-DADE?
That escalator kept running as if the wounds it caused me didn’t matter to anyone, as if my pain didn’t deserve respect and attention.
When we left the airport, we went to my home, and my husband and friend took me to Memorial West Hospital where I received excellent care. The doctor said she couldn’t believe how a rescue paramedic had told me to keep the bandage on for 3 days, especially when they hadn’t given me proper attention, hadn’t disinfected me, and hadn’t given me any medication.
At the hospital, I was admitted quickly; they gave me lidocaine injections to anesthetize the entire injured area so they could clean and disinfect the wound. I received four stitches, X-rays showed a fracture in the finger, they gave me morphine intravenously for pain, antibiotics to prevent infection, and a tetanus shot. They referred me to a hand specialist if the pain persisted, which it still does.
Once we left the hospital, we went to the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions (875 mg amoxicillin, 500 mg naproxen, and 50 mg tramadol). We left the pharmacy and decided to return to the airport because the question of what had happened still haunted us. More than three hours later my husband, my friend, and I returned to the same place where it all began. I stayed in the car because I was still medicated, and to our surprise that escalator was still in deplorable condition—not fit for service. My friend and husband took several photos and videos; they couldn’t believe that despite its condition, the escalator remained operational.
TODAY I WONDER… WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MIAMI-DADE? WHAT MUST HAPPEN TO USERS BEFORE AUTHORITIES DO THEIR JOB PROPERLY AND PAY ATTENTION TO THESE IMPORTANT MATTERS? WHERE IS THE SENSE OF GUILT, THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THOSE AT FAULT WHO DO NOT DO WHAT THEY MUST? WHO WILL PAY FOR MY LESION, FOR MY PAIN, AND FOR THE DAMAGE THIS ESCALATOR CAUSED ME?
THERE ARE STILL MANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED.
I PRAY THAT EVERY RESPONSIBLE PERSON PAYS FOR THEIR ERROR.
Sincerely,
Aleimy Acosta
⚠️ Warning: sensitive images
The following photos show the injury to Aleimy Acosta’s finger.
Click here to view the images
⚠️ Warning: sensitive images
The following photos show the injury to Aleimy Acosta’s finger.
Click here to view the images
The Shame of Not Putting People First
Miami-Dade has allocated nearly $9 billion to its airport infrastructure, yet users—residents and visitors—continue to suffer broken elevators, immobile escalators, stalled moving walkways, and unusable restrooms. It’s wasteful, harming Miami’s international image and the daily experience of everyone passing through MIA.
The solution is not more budget but better management:
- Total transparency in fund usage.
- Emergency modernization plan with strict deadlines.
- Real accountability mechanisms.
- Prioritize passenger safety and comfort.
Putting passengers first means turning budget reports into real improvements:
No one should pay with their safety or time for a system that amasses millions but fails at the basics.
Demand that Levine Cava and Cutie pivot immediately toward effectiveness and public responsibility. Only then can MIA regain its prestige and guarantee a dignified travel experience for all who walk its terminals.
Protocol & International Affairs Awards vs. Critical Infrastructure Failures
While MIA proudly showcases high-profile distinctions and programs in its Protocol & International Affairs Division, basic deficiencies persist unaddressed:
“The Protocol & International Affairs Division is pivotal in strengthening MIA’s global presence… operating 365 days a year from 5 AM to 11 PM, providing expedited escort services, coordinating diplomatic delegations, events, and high-profile arrivals…”
— Official description on Ralph Cutié’s MIA website, Executive Leaders → Protocol & International Affairs
- Awards & recognitions: MIA boasts partnerships with the U.S. Department of State, Secret Service, CBP, TSA, SOUTHCOM, Office of Foreign Missions, and the Miami Consular Corps; and claims to have pioneered the “Consular Lounge” for heads of state since 1994.
- High-level events: 1994 Summit of the Americas, presidential motorcades, national flag displays, receptions in Concourses E and F…
The problem? While time, staff, and resources are poured into ceremonies, VIP tours, and dignitary services—functions that must run flawlessly—the airport still suffers:
- Escalators and elevators out of service.
- Broken moving walkways.
- Obsolete restrooms awaiting permits or design.
- Partially renovated boarding bridges.
Blatant contrast
- Protocol investment: Escort hours, international etiquette training, multilingual staff, diplomatic alliances… intangible resources, hard to quantify but great for press releases.
- Critical infrastructure: $855 M spent on capital improvements; only 32 conveyance units inspected; 48 restrooms modernized; 32 bridges completed.
What value are awards if elevators remain broken?
- Dignitaries walk the red carpet.
- Ordinary passengers stumble on faulty moving walkways.
- Protocols are followed in the VIP lounge… basic protocols (safety, maintenance) are ignored.
MIA’s protocol showcase may be enshrined in diplomas, agreements, and ambassador tours, but true excellence should be measured by daily operation: working elevators, clean restrooms, ready bridges, and safe passengers. Until MIA bridges the gap between “elite image” and “service for all,” its diplomatic accolades will be, at best, a pretty ornament with no foundation in the everyday reality of travelers and residents.
Despite the promise of up to $9 billion in modernization over the next 5–15 years, users (residents and visitors) see no results commensurate with the investment:
- Escalators and elevators keep failing.
- Restrooms remain in poor condition.
- Boarding bridges are incomplete, causing delays and shuttle bus runs.
Furthermore, the lack of complete, timely reports prevents citizen oversight and accountability.
Immediate recommendations:
- Publish all monthly reports on time (including January and May).
- Reserve a contingency fund to finish the 32 out-of-service conveyance units and the 159 unrenovated restrooms.
- Demand from MIA administration, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, and historic directors (Ralph Cutié, etc.) full transparency in the execution of the $800+ million already committed.
- Implement a terminal-by-terminal quarterly delivery schedule, with minimum progress percentages and clear penalties.
Only then can the promise of a “world-class MIA” become a real travel experience worthy of Miami’s international reputation.
Attention Miami-Dade residents and visitors! 🌴✈️
Want to stay up-to-date on the news that impacts your daily life in our county? From public transportation changes and updates at Miami International Airport to community events and security alerts, you’ll find all the information you need at NewsMiamiDade.com.
🔹 Local and breaking news
🔹 In-depth features and analysis
🔹 Tips for your life in Miami-Dade
🔹 Event and cultural coverage
Don’t be left behind:
Go to NewsMiamiDade.com
Follow us on social media for real-time alerts
Share and comment to build a better-informed community together
Visit us today and stay informed! 📲📰
