Smeared for Takeoff

United Airlines, USAir, TWA, Delta, and Air Canada jointly filed suit against the county last year, contending that they shouldn't have to pay for the expansion because it exclusively benefits one airline. "American ought to bear the lion's share of the expense," argues attorney Barry Davidson.

The airlines' lawyer also deems the county's plan dangerous; Dade has no long-term lease with American Airlines and thus cannot prevent it from suddenly pulling out of the airport, as it has in Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Like all carriers at MIA, American operates under a 30-day lease.)

The suit is slated to go to trial in July.
"It just continues to get very bizarre," Ted Tedesco says of American's experiences in Miami. "We really don't run into these sorts of problems anywhere else in the country. The characters down there are amazing.