As Cabrera departs, who will champion airport expansion?

As Miami-Dade commissioners face replacing Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera when he becomes ambassador to Panama, they must also follow through on his initiative to pave the way for a new major airport.

An initiative driven by a single departed commissioner may fall by the wayside because it lacks a champion who keeps the idea front and center. But growth of aviation, this county’s economic engine, is too vital to backwater in legislative inaction.

Whatever ambassadorial capabilities Mr. Cabrera might exhibit, as commissioner he seized on a glaring need to plan for aviation’s future. 

Elected officials long have pointed to the limits of hemmed-in Miami International Airport in keeping pace with passenger and freight demands. Airport work to upgrade infrastructure and pack more capacity into the same space has affected both passengers and its 96 airlines with frequent inconveniences.

And while officials this year are launching a flock of projects to make Miami International more attractive, useful and efficient, work is limited because the airport must still operate at capacity.

While problematic elevators, escalators and moving walkways slow passengers, a more important future concern will be capacity of every sort, ranging from runway slots to freight handling.

The county for years has failed to focus on how or where to add an airport to relieve pressure on MIA and perhaps become the county’s principal airport. The issue has been debated, but first pinpointing and then undertaking a solution has failed. 

It’s been like our water and sewer systems: the county has been swamped with repair and upgrade spending to the detriment of making adequate sewers universal in a county where septic tanks are still a festering sore. 

So while Mr. Cabrera played on a familiar theme, he managed to make it a hot commission priority that must not burn out when he leaves.

His legislation in December gave Mayor Daniella Levine Cava 90 days to detail how and where to create a second major airport to handle cargo, commercial passengers and general aviation. 

“It’s honestly just about forward thinking, thinking about exactly what is the capacity of [Miami International Airport], how many years do we have of this capacity and what are we planning for the future,” Mr. Cabrera told a committee in November.

He pointed to escalating problems with stairways, moving walkways and escalators due to long inattention and asked to make sure “that we’re not doing the same in terms of cargo capacity, in terms of passenger capacity, and making sure that we’re ready for the future.” 

The keystone query, he said, is “to figure out how many years we have left” by relying on only what the county now has. “Clearly we’re growing year over year significantly, so we want to make sure that we’re being forward thinking.” 

Aviation Director Ralph Cutié has pointed to passengers escalating from 50.7 million in 2022 to 52.3 million in 2023 and probably 56 million when 2024 is tallied, up 7% in a single year. 

In 2023 MIA handled 2.76 million tons of freight, of which 81% was international. It will record a 6% freight gain for 2024 and rank first in the nation in international cargo. 

Mr. Cabrera’s resolution asks the mayor to pinpoint where an airport could rise, “including … general aviation airports in the county’s airport system,” funding sources, the economic impact of a new airport, and “any potential impediments to the creation of such new airport.”

Answers may spur commission friction. Just as nobody wants a waste plant nearby, commissioners will be sensitive to issues in their districts caused by new flight paths, auto traffic and environmental impacts. Land uses and land supply would be affected.

Face it: change is disruptive. The entire county would prosper with added passenger and freight loads, but commissioners favor their districts over the greater economic good.

Another barrier: the mayor as gatekeeper will limit ideas that make it through for commissioners to weigh. The mayor is responsible for the entire county, but she is not deaf to calls from one commission district or another.

The business community should play a central role in aviation expansion. Business needs are generally tied to aviation and business should back capacity growth. But the 96 airlines, plus others we try to attract, would be pulled in two directions, stimulated by added business but facing added landing fees and leasing costs. If costs rise too fast, discretionary airport users here could take wing to Broward or beyond.

The commission ultimately must rule on airport expansion. It would be easy to let neighbors or the administration or business make the choice through pressure. It would be even easier to do as the commission has on a waste disposal plan: study and then delay and then study and then delay in a seemingly endless loop.

That’s why aviation growth needs a commission champion. Who will take the pilot’s seat from Mr. Cabrera?