whirledtraveler

Now AA can make the airport from hell dance for its pleasure.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...0114423.htm?1c

uiomia

What does this all mean...I went to the link you posted but I have to register to get access....which I really do not want too....

Please explain...what thes means in MIA?

ByrdluvsAWACO

Here's another article.

Miami-Dade aviation system head quits

..Gittens almost immediately clashed with county leadership for what many saw as her effort to bring more openness to the way the airport awarded contracts and conducted business. Gittens sparred with Burgess for her outspoken support of efforts to establish an independent airport authority that he said amounted to "showing a lack of sensitivity and disrespect to me and to those we serve." If the airport authority were formed, it would strip power from commissioners to award contracts and concessions.


It sounds like they forced her out because she wanted to straighten things up.

FlyAO2

If I worked at MIA I'd quit too....

In all seriousness, this woman did not stand a chance - a job like this in Miami requires someone willing to take and give bribes...plus your name needs to be Gonzalez (kind of like all the elected politicians in the area)

MiamiPrep

She appeared to be a forceful director who was mostly popular with county businesses. MIA airport is basically a fiefdom where the political honchos (county commissioners) hand out concessions, etc. to favored friends. Ms. Gittens tried to open concessions up to competitive bidding in order to get national vendors in the airport. We still don't have FastCarts except in the international terminal because the county requires that any firm hired have "local" owners/connections or something.

I read a story once (I DON'T think it is apocryphal) that the airport hired an "environmental engineer" to deal with the nesting bird problems near one of the runways. The firm that was hired started to deal with the bird problem with a shotgun! I kid you not.

I use FTL whenever convenient or possible.

MIKESILV

Couldnt pass up another of your anti-Spanish jabs could you?
Know a lot about bribes huh? Perhaps you could compare the Miami type bribes to those given out certain to Southern European families in NY and Jersey.

mike

whirledtraveler

Well, I don't think that we can deny the problem. The government in Miami acts this way. It isn't because they are Latin; they are an immigrant community. Nearly every immigrant community that has overwhelmed a population center in the US has acted that way. So, you're right about NY and NJ. We just have a deeper problem down in Miami because the immigrant population is so much larger. That said, there is a case to be made that some of the business/govt practices in Miami are shared by the countries many of the immigrants came from.

FlyAO2

Not a jab - just stating facts.

ByrdluvsAWACO

I think it's obvious that MIA suffers from poor mgmt.

Non-NonRev

From the Herald story:


Against the wishes of the commission, she vocally supported an independent airport authority that would have removed the power to award contracts from elected officials. And in July, she fiercely resisted a request by American Airlines for an extra $66 million in public funds to complete a new terminal that had already ballooned to $1.5 billion.

*****

Her admirers believe she was moving the airport in the right direction. Last year, for example, Gittens tipped off authorities about malfeasance at the airport's fuel farm, which led to the arrest in July of 11 people for an alleged conspiracy to siphon millions of gallons of jet fuel for sale on the open market.

In June, as Gittens' relations with American worsened, Burgess put Gittens on ''management watch,'' a form of probation. He cited ``what many feel is a customer unfriendly environment at Miami International . . . low employee morale and security program mishaps.'' That same month, the Miami Business Forum, a powerful business coalition that includes American Senior Vice President Peter Dolara, dropped its petition drive to create an independent airport authority. The coalition said the drive threatened county bond initiatives.

*****

''It's another confirmation that the simple minds and the yahoos are in charge of County Hall,'' said Stuart Klaskin, a Coral Gables aviation consultant.

*****

..... Asked for reaction to Gittens' departure, American Airlines spokeswoman Martha Pantin said, ``We have nothing to say.''



For access to the full article (compliments of BugMeNot):

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snorkmaster

What would be your recommended "wildlife dispersal" technique? It doesn't make nice news, but shootin' the birds is the most surefire way to get rid of 'em. Unfortunately, shooting blanks only does so much...

snorkmaster

My airports business perspective on Gittens -- she certainly faced an uphill battle at MIA, but her reputation isn't that great either...she's "left" ATL, SFO, and an assortment of firms in the past after fairly short stints...in the industry, her reputation's not so hot...

FlyAO2

Any comments MIKESILV????

MIKESILV

What do care for me to comment about? I never posted or gave an opinion regarding whether the MIA airport authorities were corrupt or not, they most likely are.
What I do take exception is a comment from a resident of city which harbours the heads of most of the countries' organized crime families that Miami is any different just because the people speak Spanish and might be named Gonzales.
mike

MiamiPrep

The "proper technique", according the newspaper article, is to remove the nesting birds either through trapping or poisoning them. You want to get rid of the population that nests there. For some strange reason, security was a bit uncomfortable with someone shooting a gun near an active runway. Believe me, I have no problem with killing the birds as a solution...

My point was, contracting at the airport is notoriously "rigged".