Miami International Airport is on the runway to face not just one but two watchdogs probing its image and passenger experience as Miami-Dade’s top economic engine. Even as plans for a seven-member board envisioned by county commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez head toward a March 9 airing, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava last week unveiled her own 14-member team. She promised her group would produce a list of “actionable deliverables” within 180 days. Mr. Rodriguez is in line to appoint two of the seven-member panel he’s initiating with the mayor naming one. The mayor last week named all 14 of her own team last week. As Miami Today reported Jan. 22, Mr. Rodriguez titled his group the Consumer Advisory for Response Experience at MIA (CARE-MIA). The mayor’s is the MIA Forward Flight Team. The mayor’s memo said her team “will complement” Mr. Rodriguez’s board in strengthening the airport. Mr. Rodriguez’s legislation says his board would be “a structured and transparent mechanism for receiving first-hand, practical, and expert input to ensure that MIA provides the best overall experience possible.” Ms. Levine Cava wrote that “with customer satisfaction up, record growth ahead and MIA’s biggest year yet on the horizon, this is the moment to raise the standard even higher and take the next bold step forward.” A notice said the mayor’s group “will swiftly begin a review of existing operations and identify key areas of opportunity for enhancement of MIA.” The mayor’s memo cited four targets. One is operations, including congestion, ride-share pickup, aging infrastructure, staffing shortages, customs efficiency and on-time performance. Another includes modernizing terminals, multilingual services and tourism friendliness. A third cluster for will be aesthetics, beautification and airport cultural experiences. The fourth is “strengthening MIA’s brand through recruitment, training, and retention” of workers and upgrading customer experience as major events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches loom. Mr. Rodriguez’s legislation says five of his seven-member group must be long-term residents who use the airport. They’re to pinpoint improvements, continuously review operations and propose solutions to concerns, monitor Aviation Department records and “serve as a forum at which individuals and groups can express concerns and provide suggestions.” The monitors whom the mayor has appointed represent “diverse perspectives across our tourism industry partners and workforce,” her memo says. They clearly are familiar with the airport from the inside. They include JC Liscano, head of American Airlines at its Miami Hub, which handles two-thirds of all MIA passengers; the Aviation Department’s chief of staff, Andria Muniz-Amador; and Jerome Falic, CEO of Duty Free Americas. Also on the mayor’s team: Greater Miami Convention Visitors Bureau COO Rolando Aedo; Curtis Crider, CEO, Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association; G. Eric Knowles, CEO of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce; Alfred Sanchez, CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce; and Franklin Sirmans, director of the Perez Art Museum Miami. Other members include an Uber lobbyist, a union political director, and the head of a passenger drivers association. The post Mayor adds second Miami International Airport watchdog team appeared first on Miami Today. ...read more read less