Richard H. "Dick" Judy was promoted from Deputy Director to Director of the Dade County Port Authority in 1971 after the previous director, Alan Stewart, resigned under pressure from the county commission. The Port Authority name and structure was abolished in 1973 and it became the Dade County Aviation Department. As the county's Aviation Director, Mr. Judy was responsible for all activities at Miami International Airport, Opa-locka Airport, Opa-locka West Airport, Tamiami Airport, Homestead General Airport and the Training & Transition Airport "TNT" in the Everglades, in addition to planning for future air travel needs by planning a new airport in the area to replace Miami International Airport.

I became employed by the Aviation Department in March 1974 and was fortunate enough to have Dick Judy as the Aviation Director for the next 15 years until 1989 when a change in the county commission created extreme political scrutiny of airport deals and caused Mr. Judy to retire early.

Mr. Judy was the father of Gate Control at Miami International Airport, among many other developments at the airport. He visited European airports where the airports controlled the gates instead of the common US practice of leasing out gates to airlines on long-term leases. Mr. Judy realized that with airline deregulation coming in 1978, our booming growth in international air travel, and the opening of the new E-Satellite at MIA, that the airport and the airlines would best be served by the airport fairly assigning gates to all carriers. Prior to the change in this direction, most of MIA's gates were leased on long-term contracts and several international gates were assigned by Disptach Services, Inc., who favored their customer airlines in assigning gates and non-customer airlines were often forced to park on a remote hardstand with busing of the passengers from and to the flight. In late 1977 the Aviation Department started assigning gates to the twelve new gates on the E-Satellite, several non-Pan Am international gates on old Concourse E, three gates on Concourse F (F-4, F-6 and F-8) and two gates on Concourse D. In 1986 the long-term lease with United, Air Canada, TWA and Northwest on Concourse G expired and we took over control of that concourse followed by Concourse H in 1987. The last airline-controlled gates were obtained when Eastern Airlines and Pan American World Airways died in 1991.

(Under construction - more information forthcoming)

A Tribute Wall for Mr. Judy is on his funeral home's website at < http://www.hiers-baxley.com/obituaries/Richard-Judy/#/TributeWall for those wishing to express their condolences to his family.

Please click on the name image below to view his obituary and news articles about his distinguished life and his death.