Dan Agostino named FDOT Aviation Professional of the Year

For his role in helping Miami International Airport serve record passenger numbers for Super Bowl LIV, implement a new $324 million, fully automated baggage handling system, and safely manage the hub airport’s evolving response to the pandemic, MIA Assistant Director for Operations Dan Agostino was recognized this month by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) with its Aviation Professional of the Year Award.

Under Dan’s leadership, MIA successfully managed the arrival and departure of flights for both Super Bowl LIV football teams, friends and family, and nearly 80,000 departing passengers the day after the game – a single-day record for departures at MIA. Working closely with the NFL and MIA’s federal partners, Dan helped maximize airport space before and after the Big Game, including more than 1,000 private jet operations at MIA and the County’s general aviation airports that week.

Dan also oversaw the airport’s transition to a new baggage handling system that integrated 350 ticket counter positions, 19 ticket counter input locations, 51 sort piers and three baggage carousels. In addition to nearly nine miles of conveyor belt and 12 new CTX 9800 explosives detection system machines, the upgraded system features 102 mobile inspection tables in an 18,000-square-foot baggage reconciliation area – one of the world’s largest airport installations of automated guided vehicle technology.

Throughout the pandemic, Dan coordinated MIA’s operational response to the downturn and rebound in airport traffic, including all terminal sanitization efforts, the movement of passengers and crew members from cancelled cruises, and the consolidation of all airline operations from seven to four concourses. In recognition of its health and safety response to the pandemic, MIA was the first airport in Florida, second in the U.S. and third in North America to be accredited under the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Health Accreditation program in September.

Dan is responsible for overseeing the Terminal, Landside and Airside divisions at MIA, as well as the County’s general aviation airports – a total workforce of more than 350 employees.