Skytrain operating again at Miami International Airport after six-month shutdown

Douglas Hanks

Skytrain resumed service at Miami International Airport on Friday morning, ending a closure that lasted six months and forced American Airlines passengers to catch shuttles or walk as much as a mile to get to their gates.

While one Skytrain station remains out of service, repair crews made enough progress fixing cracks discovered under the tracks to allow trains to resume trips for most of the mile-long track that runs above Concourse D. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who oversees MIA, released a video Thursday evening showing her riding a Skytrain car and revealing that the trains would be open to riders starting Friday morning.

“Our teams have been working around the clock to bring Skytrain back on line,” she said. “Starting tomorrow, you can ride in comfort.” On Friday morning, an MIA spokesperson shared footage of passengers riding Skytrain.

Concourse D is the terminal used by American Airlines, MIA’s leading carrier, and sees about 80,000 passengers a day.

Cynthia Swan, center, and her daughter Jacqueline Brennan, carrying her grandson Luca, are dropped off at their gate by the courtesy shuttle in Concourse D at Miami International Airport on Sept. 27, 2023. With Skytrain shutdown since Sept. 15, shuttles and buses were the only option passengers have had besides walking to get from one end of the terminal to the other.

Airport managers imposed an emergency shutdown of Skytrain in September after inspectors saw what was described as “extensive structural cracking” in the columns that support the train system. Engineers determined most of the columns had minor cracking that could be fixed in months, although the structures near Skytrain’s Station 1, outside American’s Admirals Club frequent-flyer lounge, require lengthier fixes.

The free train service is now running between Stations 2, 3 and 4, a span that runs from gates D24 to D46. American and MIA have been offering golf-cart shuttles and bus rides as alternatives to the disabled train, which opened in 2010 to mitigate the long walks required for the new mile-long Concourse D.

Levine Cava said that shuttles will continue operating between Stations 2 and 1, about a quarter-mile distance, and that full Skytrain service to that stop should resume this summer.

Skytrain’s Sept. 15 shutdown brought more attention to maintenance issues at the county-owned airport, which is undergoing a $700 million replacement project for escalators and elevators that are too old to be reliably repaired. The airport is also modernizing its outdated bathrooms.

Advertisement