Key West Injury Lawyer Blog
Key West International Airport’s Concourse A opens after more than two years of construction, according to local media.
The two-year project’s completion to the direct service airport that offers transport to 24 cities means additional amenities for travelers including worktables, charging stations, concessions and free Wi-Fi. The concourse spans over 48,800 square feet and features a single-story concrete building with modern, clear story windows and a curtain wall system to “allow natural lighting and give a sense of transparency,” according to an airport press release. The concourse will expand the airport’s concession opportunities. A new, extended passenger bridge will connect the existing landside terminal building to Concourse A.
The airport is “completely prepared” to brave category 5 hurricanes and sea level rise, according to local media.
The project will also mean less congestion on the roads, Richard Strickland, the airport’s Executive Director, alleged in an article from NBC 6 South Florida.
“The more we continue to bring in the millions of passengers through the flights, the less people that should be on the roadway,” he said.
By summer 2026, the next phase of construction is slated to be done. This phase will feature a four-lane TSA checkpoint, a new baggage claim and arrivals area.
“I think tourism is so important to the Florida Keys, and what’s happened is aviation is able to fit better aircraft up to this building with better and safer jetways and everything,” Strickland said.
With this newly minted concourse, it is likely that more people will be traveling in and out of Key West through this airport. With a considerable history in Key West, Leesfield & Partners has secured numerous results for injured clients and families grieving the loss of a loved one in aviation accidents.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is a personal injury law firm with over 48 years of experience litigating cases throughout Florida. With three offices in Miami, Orlando and Key West, the firm has had a considerable impact on the lives of injured clients, securing the best possible outcome on their behalf. Our skilled attorneys have recovered record and leading verdicts and settlements for these clients in various personal injury practice areas, including aviation accidents.
Injuries and wrongful deaths can occur while aboard small, private jets or on commercial airlines. No matter the venue, Leesfield & Partners attorneys work diligently on behalf of their clients and have secured approximately $30 million in combined aviation verdicts and settlements to date.
In data from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), there have been at least 14 commercial safety investigations opened so far in 2025 after either a serious injury, fatality, major aircraft damage or other incident that poses a safety risk. These incidents can include engine failures, fires aboard aircrafts or system malfunctions. In 2024, there were 46 investigations.
Since 2000, the first-quarter average, meaning the average number of events occurring from January to March, has been 13.
With recent headlines of airline issues and crashes — including American Airlines Flight 5342, the deadliest airline crash in two decades of U.S. history that killed 67 people — concerns regarding airplane travel are mounting. Despite the recent attention these isolated incidents have garnered, there appears to be no significant increase in overall commercial aviation, according to the data and reporting from CNN.
While flying remains one of the safest modes of transportation, that doesn’t mean that airplane manufacturers, airlines and other companies are not held accountable when incidents occur. Leesfield & Partners has regularly held these entities accountable on behalf of injured clients and their grieving families.
Previous Cases
The firm secured a $10 million recovery in a wrongful death case.
Another tragic case involving an airline and the death of our client’s loved one resulted in over $8.5 million secured by Leesfield & Partners attorneys.
A $5.4 million amount was recovered by the firm in an aviation incident in which three people — all of whom were either employees or officers of a distributor of an aircraft corporation — were killed.
One case involved a single-engine airplane crash that killed a pilot and his mother when they were caught up in severe weather. This case was handled by Leesfield & Partners’ Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, along with co-counsel Mark A. Sylvester. The defendants included the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) due to their air traffic controllers’ failure to provide important severe weather information to our client’s loved one who was piloting the plane.
Additionally, a service facility, the manufacturer of a component part that powered the flight instrumentation and the plane manufacturer were also named as defendants.
The attorneys were able to settle the case for over $2.8 million.
For a client that was severely injured in a helicopter crash, our attorneys secured a $1.9 million recovery amount.
In a wrongful death case following a terrible Orlando airplane crash, Leesfield & Partners secured over $1.8 million.
An airplane manufacturer was a defendant in another Leesfield & Partners aviation case, which resulted in a $630,000 recovery.
If you or someone you know was involved in an aviation incident, don’t wait. Call a Leesfield & partners attorney today at 800-836-6400 today for a free consultation.
