JAX Concourse B Opens Jan. 28 for American Airlines

Jacksonville International Airport now has firm passenger dates for its long-awaited Concourse B. Jacksonville Aviation Authority Chief Operating Officer Tony Cugno told the City Council Finance Committee that a ribbon-cutting is planned for January 27, 2027, and American Airlines is expected to launch flights from the six new gates on January 28.

For anyone booking Northeast Florida trips this winter, the traveler decision is simple. Hold American Airlines itineraries through JAX with the new gate map in mind, plan extra time during the first days of service, and use the Dec. 30 certificate-of-occupancy window as the final construction checkpoint before vendors go live.

What JAA confirmed on the calendar

According to the Jacksonville Daily Record report of Cugno’s Aug. 27 remarks, the city is expected to issue a certificate of occupancy on Dec. 30, 2026. That document is the formal handoff that lets the authority occupy the building after inspections.

JAA is not opening the concourse the next morning. Cugno said the gap through January 27 exists so concessionaires can hire and train staff before passengers arrive. “We did not want to open up the concourse without the concessionaires being fully trained and operational,” he told the finance committee.

American Airlines will stage the move carefully. Cugno said the airline “will come in the evening of the 27th, launch on the 28th,” which lines up with the ribbon-cutting and first revenue flights on consecutive days.

Jacksonville Today matches the same Jan. 27 ribbon-cutting and Jan. 28 American Airlines start, citing the same JAA briefing. Treat those dates as the current operating plan, not a marketing soft target.

Construction began in July 2024 on the three-level building. Cugno told council members the project remains on time, on schedule, and on budget heading into the occupancy window.

How the new gates change a JAX trip

JAX currently operates one main terminal with Concourses A and C, ten gates each, for twenty gates total. Concourse B restores a middle pier demolished in 2009 and adds six gates at opening, with room to grow by two to four more later.

American Airlines is the launch carrier for the new pier. Once those flights move, the gates American leaves behind on Concourse C become available for other airlines. That shuffle matters if your winter booking still shows a C-gate assignment today.

Expect boarding-pass gate letters to change as January approaches. Screenshot your confirmation now, then recheck the American Airlines app the week before travel. Same flight number does not guarantee the same walk from security.

Deep Arrival’s American Airlines planning hub remains the place to compare cabin products and baggage rules once you know you are staying on American. Use it after you confirm the January schedule, not instead of reading the gate map.

Arrival and departure flow will also feel different for connecting passengers. A six-gate pier adds walking distance and wayfinding signs that did not exist when A and C were the only options. Budget an extra ten to fifteen minutes for the first trips through the new pier.

Food, shops, and lounges travelers will actually use

JAA has already approved lease deals for Cantina Louie Mexican Street Food, Chick-fil-A, Panda Express, Pura Bean Coffee Co., Salt and Tide, V Pizza, and Willie Jewell’s Old School Bar-B-Q inside Concourse B. The Oak and Ocean Food Hall will also keep familiar names such as Burger Fi and Starbucks in the expanded food court footprint.

Retail leases include Postcards from Jacksonville, The Beaches at Jax, Seven Bridges Marketplace, and Five Points General Store, with some shops also landing near baggage claim. Those names matter less than the practical point: the authority delayed opening so these vendors are staffed on day one.

Lounge travelers get two material moves. The Delta Sky Club is relocating from Concourse A into Concourse B, with most of the club on the mezzanine and a small entry on the boarding level. Independent February construction coverage from The Jaxson described a roughly 9,000-square-foot Sky Club with bar, cafe, and lounge seating.

Club JAX, the pay-per-use lounge that closed in August 2024 for construction, is more than doubling. The Daily Record cites a redesigned mezzanine lounge of about 6,133 square feet with 131 seats, up from 52. Day-pass guests should recheck prices and hours once the lounge posts a reopen notice.

Families and pet owners get smaller but useful rooms: a children’s play area and a turfed pet-care space inside the new concourse. Those are secondary to the gate and dining decisions, yet they change how long a connection feels with kids or a dog in cabin.

What to watch between now and January 28

First, watch the Dec. 30 certificate of occupancy. If inspections slip, the January ribbon-cutting and American Airlines launch dates will move together. Cugno’s August briefing presented the plan as on schedule, but occupancy is still a future city action.

Second, watch American Airlines schedule adjustments for JAX. The airline is rearranging which flights sit on the new pier. International or Caribbean adds that American has discussed for Jacksonville may use the larger aircraft envelope Concourse B was designed to handle, but do not invent routes that are not yet published in the booking engine.

Third, watch security-to-gate walking times during the first week. New connectors, temporary signage, and first-day concession crowds can slow people who usually cut it close at JAX.

Fourth, if you use Global Entry or other trusted-traveler programs at Jacksonville, keep that process separate from Concourse B. Deep Arrival’s note on Jacksonville Global Entry interview windows is about enrollment slots, not gate assignments.

Local destination pages help only after the flight is settled. Deep Arrival’s Jacksonville things to do guide and the St. Augustine guide are useful once you know whether you still have a full afternoon after landing.

Balfour Beatty Construction is the construction manager, Jacobs Engineering leads design, and Jacksonville-based RS&H is the architectural subcontractor on the roughly $344 million pier. Those delivery details matter less to passengers than the calendar, yet they explain why JAA is confident enough to brief a January opening in public.

Concourse B also sits beside a larger campus plan that includes a bypass taxiway and that third parking garage near the terminal. The garage is projected around $100 million and about 2,000 spaces across six levels. Drivers should still verify lot names in the official JAX parking tools rather than assuming the new structure is required for every January flight.