Orlando International Starts $253M Tram Upgrade, Will Cut Terminal Service During Construction

On Dec. 3, Orlando International Airport (MCO) will kick off its $253 million Gate Link Replacement Project, which features major upgrades to how the airport moves passengers from its terminals to its gates.

The project will deliver four new Gate Link vehicles (trams) between Terminals A and B and Gates 70 through 129 on the airport’s Airside 2 and Airside 4. It also includes all-new supporting infrastructure for the trams. The new vehicles will be the same style as those placed in 2017 for the airport’s other side, Gates 1 through 59 that serves Airsides 1 and 3.

In the meantime, passengers will need to pack some patience and be prepared to spend extra time getting to their gate.

For normal hours during construction, one tram will remain in operation instead of the usual two. The airport estimates this will only add a few minutes for passengers, even during peak holiday periods.

However, the airport warned that “from time to time, especially overnight,” both trams will be shut down, requiring flyers to use a shuttle bus between the terminals and Gates 70 to 129. While this isn’t expected to happen during the busiest travel times, the airport is not publishing a specific schedule.

The airport is advising passengers to follow the 3-2-1 rule—arrive at the airport 3 hours before departure, be at security 2 hours before departure, and be at the gate 1 hour before boarding.

Orlando is consistently ranked as one of the airports with the longest lines at security. Chase Travel ranks MCO third in the nation, behind St. Louis Lambert (STL) and Austin-Bergstrom (AUS). All three airports average wait times of over 15 minutes.

MCO does offer TSA PreCheck and CLEAR+ lanes. For passengers without either of those memberships, the airport also provides the free MCO Reserve service, which allows travelers to reserve a time slot for their party to go through TSA security. Those slots can be booked seven days in advance, with slots available from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day (for flights departing between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.).