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MIA Concourse G
I know, I haven't been online at A-Net for a minute. Tried searching but couldn't find any information. When will the Central terminal at MIA get its extreme makeover? Mainly original 1959 era Concourse G. Any information appreciated. We WN, UA and a couple other carriers call G home at MIA. Actually, I like the low G gates. Original from 1959. I like the old school windows which are cool for spotting (lack of glare IMHO) low ceilings. The terrazzo floor is recent. It's the higher gates that have that dowdy 70's feel. I would love to see the low G's restored and the high gates get an extreme makeover. Where most of MIA has cold AC, it can get toasty on G. Especially the 70's addition high gates.
Re: MIA Concourse G
I see these three articles on the MIA Airport upgrades:
Capital Improvement Program
https://www.miami-airport.com/capital_improvement.asp
The Next Miami
https://www.thenextmiami.com/with-recor ... expnasion/
Miami Airport Upgrades
https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2020/03/ ... r-takeoff/
It looks like “G” will be demolished
Capital Improvement Program
https://www.miami-airport.com/capital_improvement.asp
The Next Miami
https://www.thenextmiami.com/with-recor ... expnasion/
Miami Airport Upgrades
https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2020/03/ ... r-takeoff/
It looks like “G” will be demolished
Re: MIA Concourse G
When I was there this past winter, most UA flights were operating from H.
Re: MIA Concourse G
drdisque wrote:When I was there this past winter, most UA flights were operating from H.
When I flew in and out of MIA this past September. DL had the Lion's Share of flights on H Concourse. And flying home to BWI a week later on us WN out of G I swore I saw a UA flight or two at the G Gates. I believe Frontier also operates flights out of G. Air France I believe had a flight or two out of H. H IMO is holding its own. I believe DL concourse at MIA got an extreme makeover back in 1998. I like the contemporary design with the glass windows which gives it an art decco feel at the same time. I'm guessing it's been painted and re-carpeted at least once since.
Re: MIA Concourse G
zippyjet wrote:drdisque wrote:When I was there this past winter, most UA flights were operating from H.
When I flew in and out of MIA this past September. DL had the Lion's Share of flights on H Concourse. And flying home to BWI a week later on us WN out of G I swore I saw a UA flight or two at the G Gates. I believe Frontier also operates flights out of G. Air France I believe had a flight or two out of H. H IMO is holding its own. I believe DL concourse at MIA got an extreme makeover back in 1998. I like the contemporary design with the glass windows which gives it an art decco feel at the same time. I'm guessing it's been painted and re-carpeted at least once since.
The UA gates are all the way at the end of H.
Re: MIA Concourse G
drdisque wrote:zippyjet wrote:drdisque wrote:When I was there this past winter, most UA flights were operating from H.
When I flew in and out of MIA this past September. DL had the Lion's Share of flights on H Concourse. And flying home to BWI a week later on us WN out of G I swore I saw a UA flight or two at the G Gates. I believe Frontier also operates flights out of G. Air France I believe had a flight or two out of H. H IMO is holding its own. I believe DL concourse at MIA got an extreme makeover back in 1998. I like the contemporary design with the glass windows which gives it an art decco feel at the same time. I'm guessing it's been painted and re-carpeted at least once since.
The concessions in H are pretty awful.
The UA gates are all the way at the end of H.
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- itripreport
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Re: MIA Concourse G
drdisque wrote:zippyjet wrote:drdisque wrote:When I was there this past winter, most UA flights were operating from H.
When I flew in and out of MIA this past September. DL had the Lion's Share of flights on H Concourse. And flying home to BWI a week later on us WN out of G I swore I saw a UA flight or two at the G Gates. I believe Frontier also operates flights out of G. Air France I believe had a flight or two out of H. H IMO is holding its own. I believe DL concourse at MIA got an extreme makeover back in 1998. I like the contemporary design with the glass windows which gives it an art decco feel at the same time. I'm guessing it's been painted and re-carpeted at least once since.
The UA gates are all the way at the end of H.
UA's main area are the end of H, however as an overflow they do tend to use J1-J5, I've had my fair share of flights out of here.
Frontier has since gone all to F, meanwhile Spirit and Southwest have found home in G. Unfortunately it feels as if the end of H (UA gates) feels more as a temporary overflow than an actual part of the terminal.
Now I do have a question about H. The delta gates feel as if they were designed for wide body double decker use, as there's roped off escalators leading up to a second level (not the sterile walkway), and now-filled openings right above were the current jetways are, does anyone have any more information regarding this?
Re: MIA Concourse G
I think MIA is missing an opportunity. I think a Y shaped concourse to replace F and G would fit in the space well and replace the most number of gates. Something similar to EWR C1 concourse. If they did that and redeveloped E, they could maximize space for aircraft movement, without losing many gates in the process.
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- phatfarmlines
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Re: MIA Concourse G
itripreport wrote:
Now I do have a question about H. The delta gates feel as if they were designed for wide body double decker use, as there's roped off escalators leading up to a second level (not the sterile walkway), and now-filled openings right above were the current jetways are, does anyone have any more information regarding this?
It does look like there are railings which could have supported movable jetways between the 2nd and 3rd floor, much like what has been used at JFK Terminal 1 & 7.
IMO, a design like that is subject to higher failure, and it's no wonder most airports do not do that to allow for separation between the sterile and non-sterile areas.
cosyr wrote:I think MIA is missing an opportunity. I think a Y shaped concourse to replace F and G would fit in the space well and replace the most number of gates. Something similar to EWR C1 concourse. If they did that and redeveloped E, they could maximize space for aircraft movement, without losing many gates in the process.
I haven't wrapped my head around how MDAD plans to supplement gates following the closure of G. It feels just adding the extension east of concourse J (Concourse K?) isn't going to cover what is being operated today.
itripreport wrote:Frontier has since gone all to F
I thought F was closed and being remodeled?
Re: MIA Concourse G
itripreport wrote:drdisque wrote:zippyjet wrote:
When I flew in and out of MIA this past September. DL had the Lion's Share of flights on H Concourse. And flying home to BWI a week later on us WN out of G I swore I saw a UA flight or two at the G Gates. I believe Frontier also operates flights out of G. Air France I believe had a flight or two out of H. H IMO is holding its own. I believe DL concourse at MIA got an extreme makeover back in 1998. I like the contemporary design with the glass windows which gives it an art decco feel at the same time. I'm guessing it's been painted and re-carpeted at least once since.
The UA gates are all the way at the end of H.
UA's main area are the end of H, however as an overflow they do tend to use J1-J5, I've had my fair share of flights out of here.
Frontier has since gone all to F, meanwhile Spirit and Southwest have found home in G. Unfortunately it feels as if the end of H (UA gates) feels more as a temporary overflow than an actual part of the terminal.
Now I do have a question about H. The delta gates feel as if they were designed for wide body double decker use, as there's roped off escalators leading up to a second level (not the sterile walkway), and now-filled openings right above were the current jetways are, does anyone have any more information regarding this?
My educated guess regarding Concourse H with the escalators. When H opened in 1961 props were still a mainstay of air travel even at MIA. So the lower level led to old school hard stand boarding stairs. Jetways (originally the Mini Mes) handled the first generation of jets. So, I'm thinking the escalators and lower levels were incorporated in the 1998 redo out of cost savings, and convenience/construction time. My other theory, at least into the 90's when US shared H there were a lot of puddle jumpers turbo props and Barbie Jets (RJ's) so the same real estate could handle to short hop flights or mainline birds. For its age, I feel H still looks current and spiffy. I agree, the food choices in F,G, H/J could stand improvement but, you have La Caretta on D and their smaller satellite food stand in the South Terminal baggage claim. Another side note. Originally when we entered MIA SWA we were going to use at least gates H-11 and H-15 but maybe because of more flights we went to G with more available gate space. I wouldn't have minded being in H. From what I've read and garnered from the links to the shared articles plans are vague about the Central Terminal. F getting the makeover and G demolished but that's about it and ain't happening anytime soon.
I thought F was closed and being remodeled?
F was remodeled expanded after G. Low G is basically 1959 era with the extension (our WN Gates) added on in the 70's or 80's.
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- 11725Flyer
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Re: MIA Concourse G
I was a former MIA travel, mostly on Eastern. But, if I recall correctly, Piedmont built an add-on to H. You entered the concourse and made a left to get to them, which supported their added Florida Shuttle operation.
Re: MIA Concourse G
zippyjet wrote:My educated guess regarding Concourse H with the escalators. When H opened in 1961 props were still a mainstay of air travel even at MIA. So the lower level led to old school hard stand boarding stairs. Jetways (originally the Mini Mes) handled the first generation of jets. So, I'm thinking the escalators and lower levels were incorporated in the 1998 redo out of cost savings, and convenience/construction time. My other theory, at least into the 90's when US shared H there were a lot of puddle jumpers turbo props and Barbie Jets (RJ's) so the same real estate could handle to short hop flights or mainline birds. For its age, I feel H still looks current and spiffy. I agree, the food choices in F,G, H/J could stand improvement but, you have La Caretta on D and their smaller satellite food stand in the South Terminal baggage claim. Another side note. Originally when we entered MIA SWA we were going to use at least gates H-11 and H-15 but maybe because of more flights we went to G with more available gate space. I wouldn't have minded being in H. From what I've read and garnered from the links to the shared articles plans are vague about the Central Terminal. F getting the makeover and G demolished but that's about it and ain't happening anytime soon.
I remember flying US out of H in the early 90’s and the escalators were there. I think they were mainly to help with traffic flow and act as a bypass to gates further down the terminal from the head house.
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- phatfarmlines
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Re: MIA Concourse G
zippyjet wrote:
F was remodeled expanded after G. Low G is basically 1959 era with the extension (our WN Gates) added on in the 70's or 80's.
There is another remodel that is supposed to be taking place, which will remove the third-level walkway and TSA checkpoints and bring those to the 2nd level. Recent YouTube trip report videos still show these areas as untouched.
I should have prefaced by saying the low-F gates were to be closed for a remodel, and not the cluster of gates at the end of F.
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- FlyingSquirrel3
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Re: MIA Concourse G
This is a history of Concourse H at MIA that I posted on another board. Modified slightly here and based largely on my own observations, corrections are welcome.
Originally, Concourse H was built in 1961 as a typical "finger"-type pier. Like many concourses at the time, the corridor was rather narrow, and the walk might have had a zig-zag element to it. The hold rooms appeared as individual bump-outs to the structure if viewed from above. Since these waiting areas were separated from the corridor by walls, with only an opening not much wider than a doorway, you could say these were true hold "rooms" for each gate, or more likely pairs of gates.
In 1970, a rectangular "headhouse" containing about 9 gates opened at the far end of the concourse. This was a wider, common area with no divisions between the waiting areas for each gate. But since the narrow corridor to get there was a potential bottleneck on busy days, they added something else to the concourse: an express walkway on the third floor. This was just a plain (non-moving) walking area accessed by escalators and stairs on each end. I must say it is rare to have a bypass of this sort for domestic passengers, though I think MIA's own Concourse F might have had a similar setup; the escalator pair that led there, which unlike H had no adjacent fixed stairway, appears to still be in place. (Note: Concourse B at DTW's old Smith terminal had an express walkway on the lower level for arrivals, and rumor has it ATL once planned an upper level above Concourses A and B with moving walkways.)
In the 1980s, a somewhat unconventional extension was added to Concourse H. Shortly after security, a doorway on the left was added leading to an outdoor walkway. This sidewalk, covered with a canopy and on a slight downward slope, led to a new indoor, rectangular headhouse containing at least 6 more gates. With boarding bridges. Not sure how long these gates remained in service, but they would be removed eventually to make way for Concourse J.
Back inside, just past this doorway, there was an upward-running escalator on one side of the corridor and a fixed stair on the other, leading to/from a lower level. Not sure what these were for. My guess is ground-level gates for puddle-jumpers and the like, but I don't remember any gate signage there.
In the 1990s, Concourse H was completely reconstructed. In addition to a wider footprint with more modern, unpartitioned gates, the corridor was given a high ceiling with atrium-style windows. The upper level now took the form of a mezzanine. Only problem was, with a more spacious common area, an express walkway on the third floor seemed kind of pointless. There was also a lower level added, though I'm not sure how far that extended (I checked once to find out if there was a downstairs shortcut to the baggage claim area. There wasn't. At least not at the time.)
Note that the headhouse at the end was not rebuilt, and, except for some more modern finishes, is pretty much the same as it always was.
Finally, in the 2000s, following the completion of Concourse J, some if not all of the gates in the non-headhouse section of H were modified to take international arrivals. To facilitate this, the aforementioned upper level was fitted with transparent curtain walls and converted to a sterile corridor. This made sense, since the balcony-type sterile corridor seems to be the gold standard these days, and is even found across MIA's own Concourse D. So while the slightly-used mezzanine now had a solid purpose, the main concourse is now stuck with at least 2 vestigial sets of blocked-off escalators, since domestic passengers and all departures obviously have no use for them. Hmmm, granted this is 20/20 hindsight, and I am not a civil engineer, but would it have made sense to relocate those escalators to the modified gates for the usual purpose of channeling the international arrivals upstairs? Vertical transportation is expensive, and that would free up some floor space in the concourse's common area.
Edit: One of the Capital Improvements links that lx2iah posted above does indicate continued "internationalization" of Concourse H, so maybe that's the plan.
Originally, Concourse H was built in 1961 as a typical "finger"-type pier. Like many concourses at the time, the corridor was rather narrow, and the walk might have had a zig-zag element to it. The hold rooms appeared as individual bump-outs to the structure if viewed from above. Since these waiting areas were separated from the corridor by walls, with only an opening not much wider than a doorway, you could say these were true hold "rooms" for each gate, or more likely pairs of gates.
In 1970, a rectangular "headhouse" containing about 9 gates opened at the far end of the concourse. This was a wider, common area with no divisions between the waiting areas for each gate. But since the narrow corridor to get there was a potential bottleneck on busy days, they added something else to the concourse: an express walkway on the third floor. This was just a plain (non-moving) walking area accessed by escalators and stairs on each end. I must say it is rare to have a bypass of this sort for domestic passengers, though I think MIA's own Concourse F might have had a similar setup; the escalator pair that led there, which unlike H had no adjacent fixed stairway, appears to still be in place. (Note: Concourse B at DTW's old Smith terminal had an express walkway on the lower level for arrivals, and rumor has it ATL once planned an upper level above Concourses A and B with moving walkways.)
In the 1980s, a somewhat unconventional extension was added to Concourse H. Shortly after security, a doorway on the left was added leading to an outdoor walkway. This sidewalk, covered with a canopy and on a slight downward slope, led to a new indoor, rectangular headhouse containing at least 6 more gates. With boarding bridges. Not sure how long these gates remained in service, but they would be removed eventually to make way for Concourse J.
Back inside, just past this doorway, there was an upward-running escalator on one side of the corridor and a fixed stair on the other, leading to/from a lower level. Not sure what these were for. My guess is ground-level gates for puddle-jumpers and the like, but I don't remember any gate signage there.
In the 1990s, Concourse H was completely reconstructed. In addition to a wider footprint with more modern, unpartitioned gates, the corridor was given a high ceiling with atrium-style windows. The upper level now took the form of a mezzanine. Only problem was, with a more spacious common area, an express walkway on the third floor seemed kind of pointless. There was also a lower level added, though I'm not sure how far that extended (I checked once to find out if there was a downstairs shortcut to the baggage claim area. There wasn't. At least not at the time.)
Note that the headhouse at the end was not rebuilt, and, except for some more modern finishes, is pretty much the same as it always was.
Finally, in the 2000s, following the completion of Concourse J, some if not all of the gates in the non-headhouse section of H were modified to take international arrivals. To facilitate this, the aforementioned upper level was fitted with transparent curtain walls and converted to a sterile corridor. This made sense, since the balcony-type sterile corridor seems to be the gold standard these days, and is even found across MIA's own Concourse D. So while the slightly-used mezzanine now had a solid purpose, the main concourse is now stuck with at least 2 vestigial sets of blocked-off escalators, since domestic passengers and all departures obviously have no use for them. Hmmm, granted this is 20/20 hindsight, and I am not a civil engineer, but would it have made sense to relocate those escalators to the modified gates for the usual purpose of channeling the international arrivals upstairs? Vertical transportation is expensive, and that would free up some floor space in the concourse's common area.
Edit: One of the Capital Improvements links that lx2iah posted above does indicate continued "internationalization" of Concourse H, so maybe that's the plan.
Re: MIA Concourse G
FlyingSquirrel3 wrote:(Note: Concourse B at DTW's old Smith terminal had an express walkway on the lower level for arrivals, and rumor has it ATL once planned an upper level above Concourses A and B with moving walkways.)
Slightly off topic but the old Phoenix Terminal 2 had an "express" lower walkway to the end of terminal headhouse as well which took you past airport offices and baggage hold rooms, but considering that part of the terminal was rebuilt around 1988, it wasn't really a historical oddity.
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- FlyingSquirrel3
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Re: MIA Concourse G
(About Concourse F)
Do you have any links to YT trip reports that show Concourse F? Most the videos I can find are of Concourse D, and a few others with H and maybe J. Concourse F is the only one I've never been able to get a good look at, since, like G, it has no post-security connections, and I think even before 9/11 only ticketed passengers for that concourse were permitted past the checkpoint.
phatfarmlines wrote:There is another remodel that is supposed to be taking place, which will remove the third-level walkway and TSA checkpoints and bring those to the 2nd level. Recent YouTube trip report videos still show these areas as untouched.
Do you have any links to YT trip reports that show Concourse F? Most the videos I can find are of Concourse D, and a few others with H and maybe J. Concourse F is the only one I've never been able to get a good look at, since, like G, it has no post-security connections, and I think even before 9/11 only ticketed passengers for that concourse were permitted past the checkpoint.
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