Slow decline is halted

By the mid-1980s, Opa-locka Airport was at a crossroads. The airport had a remarkable history dating back to the 1920s, when Glenn Curtiss established the Florida Aviation Camp on the scrublands west of Opa-locka. It had later become a major naval air training station during World War II, when thousands of airmen and support personnel passed through its facilities. But by the early 1980s, much of that activity had disappeared, and the airport was experiencing a dramatic decline in aircraft operations.

At its peak in the late 1970s, Opa-locka had been one of the world’s busiest airports in terms of takeoffs and landings, recording approximately 551,000 operations in 1979. By 1984, that number had fallen to only 191,000. Rising fuel costs, the end of the GI Bill’s support for veteran flight training, the relocation of flight schools to Tamiami Airport, and inadequate highway access all contributed to the decline.

New role for County seen

Miami-Dade County’s aviation officials, however, believed the airport’s location between Miami and Fort Lauderdale gave it enormous potential. Rather than trying to recreate its past as primarily a flight-training and recreational aviation center, the County envisioned a new role: an executive airport serving corporate aircraft, business aviation and general aviation users throughout South Florida.

Revitalization begins

Under Richard Judy, director of the Dade Aviation Department, the County embarked on an ambitious program to revitalize the airport. More than $13 million had already been committed to improvements by 1985, with approximately $40 million projected for the airport over the following 15 to 20 years.

The rebuilding program included new hangars and maintenance facilities, additional taxiways to improve aircraft movement, and improved access for corporate aviation. Twenty-eight T-hangars had already been constructed for smaller corporate and recreational aircraft, while six larger hangars were under construction. A new facility was also planned for Hangar One, then the airport’s principal storage and maintenance operation.

Perhaps most important was the effort to solve one of Opa-locka’s longstanding problems: its poor connection to the regional highway system. More than $5 million in federal funding and aviation fuel-tax revenues was being invested in road improvements linking the airport to the Palmetto Expressway. The extension of Le Jeune Road toward the Palmetto was expected to be completed in 1987, while the Curtiss-Langley connector was nearing completion. The new roads would give the airport the direct regional access needed to compete for corporate traffic with Miami International, Tamiami and Fort Lauderdale Executive airports.

The County also intended to make Opa-locka more attractive to international business aviation by improving access to its U.S. Customs facilities, with the hope of attracting aircraft and business from Latin America and the Caribbean. At the same time, additional taxiways were planned to accommodate the anticipated increase in traffic and reduce delays.

The strategy was straightforward: make Opa-locka easier to reach, modernize its facilities, attract corporate and executive aircraft, and establish the airport as an important complement to Miami International Airport. County officials also believed that shifting some general-aviation activity from MIA to Opa-locka would help relieve pressure on Miami’s increasingly busy main airport.

Miami Dade aviation director bets heavily on Opa Locka

The transformation was not without uncertainty. In 1985, several of the new hangars had yet to be leased, with prospective tenants waiting to see what the completed airport would look like. There were also competing plans for an aviation-related industrial park on land south of the airport. Nevertheless, airport officials were confident that Opa-locka’s location and the investment being made in its future would eventually pay off.

Richard Judy described Opa-locka as a “very critical airport” and said the County was determined to produce a facility attractive to executive aircraft. Airport manager George Manion similarly described it as a rapidly changing place.

That vision would help lay the foundation for the successful and increasingly important general-aviation airport that exists today: Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport.