Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

History

Wayne County began to plan an airport in the western townships of the county as early as 1927. The following year, the county board of commissioners issued a $2 million bond to fund the purchase of one square mile (2.6 km2) of land at the corner of Middlebelt and Wick roads, the northeastern boundary of today's airport. Construction was completed in 1929, and the first landing was on February 22, 1930; Wayne County Airport was dedicated on September 4, 1930. That year, Thompson Aeronautical Corporation, a forerunner of American Airlines, began service from the airport. From 1931 until 1945, the airport hosted Michigan Air National Guard operations gained by the United States Army Air Forces. It was named Romulus Field during the war; it was then all east of Merriman Road and north of Goddard Road. The intersection of the two runways is still visible at 42.23266°N 83.33564°W / 42.23266; -83.33564.

Wayne County expanded the airport to become Detroit's primary airport. It renamed it Detroit-Wayne Major Airport in 1947, and in the next three years expanded threefold as three more runways were built. In 1949 the airport added runways 3L/21R and 9L/27R, followed by runway 4R/22L in 1950. In 1946-47 most airline traffic moved from the cramped Detroit City Airport (now Coleman A. Young International Airport) northeast of downtown Detroit to Willow Run Airport over 20 miles (32 km) west of the city, and 10 miles (16 km) west of Wayne County Airport.

Pan American Airways (1954) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (1956) were the first passenger airlines at Detroit-Wayne Major. In the April 1957 Official Airline Guide they were the only passenger airlines: three Pan Am DC-7Cs each week FRA–LHR–SNN–DTW–ORD and back, and one BOAC DC-7C each week LHR–PIK–YUL–DTW–ORD and back (skipping YUL on the return flight).

Aerial photographs of DTW from 1949 and 1956 show the airport's expansion. In 1958 the Civil Aviation Administration—now the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)—announced the inclusion of Detroit-Wayne in the first group of American airports to receive new long-range radar equipment, enabling the airport to become the first inland airport in the United States certified for jet airliners. Also, in 1958, airport management completed the Leroy C. Smith (South) Terminal and gave the airport its present name.

American Airlines moved from Willow Run to Detroit-Wayne in October 1958, followed by Northwest, Allegheny, and Delta in the next few months; the other airlines stayed at Willow Run until 1966.

Facilities

DTW has two passenger terminals, with a total of 151 gates.

McNamara Terminal

The Edward H. McNamara Terminal (MAC-nuh-mahr-uh) is the larger of the two terminals, containing 122 gates between its three concourses, lettered A, B, and C. As of 2026, the McNamara Terminal is served exclusively by Delta Air Lines, other members of the SkyTeam airline alliance, and WestJet.

Designed by SmithGroup and built by Hunt Construction Group, the McNamara Terminal opened on February 24, 2002, as the first major airport terminal in the U.S. to open after the September 11 attacks. It replaced the Davey Terminal as the primary base of Northwest Airlines in Detroit. Known during planning as the Midfield Terminal, the facility was named in honor of Edward H. McNamara, then the sitting county executive of Wayne County. It was developed in collaboration with Northwest to serve as its primary hub for international flights, and was prominently branded by the airline as the Northwest WorldGateway upon its opening.

McNamara Terminal's linear Concourse A houses 64 gates, and is roughly one mile (1.6 km) in length, ranking as the longest linear airport concourse in the U.S. and the second-longest in the world (behind Terminal 1 of Kansai International Airport in Japan). Moving walkways line the entire length of the concourse, as does the ExpressTram, an elevated automated people mover which quickly transports passengers between three stations within the concourse. Concourse A includes a variety of restaurants and retail stores, and four Delta Sky Club lounges. At the midpoint of the concourse is a large, laminar flow water feature designed by WET.

The smaller Concourses B and C, containing 17 and 41 gates respectively, run parallel to Concourse A, and combined are roughly 0.5 miles (0.80 km) long. They are primarily used for smaller aircraft, and feature jet bridges at all gates. They were expanded between 2004 and 2006. Concourses B and C also contain retail stores, restaurants, and a Delta Sky Club lounge.

Concourses B and C are connected to the main terminal and Concourse A by the underground pedestrian Light Tunnel, which runs under the airport ramp. The tunnel features an elaborate multi-colored light show behind sculpted glass panels, synchronized with an original musical score composed by Victor Alexeeff. This installation, one of the first large-scale uses of color-changing LED lighting in the United States, was produced by Mills James Productions with glasswork by Foxfire Glass Works of Pontiac, Michigan.

Evans Terminal

The Warren Cleage Evans Terminal is the smaller of the two terminals. It is coextensive with concourse D, which is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) long, and contains 29 gates, which as of 2026 serve all flights operated by airlines which are not members of SkyTeam or partners of Delta Air Lines.

The Evans Terminal was originally known as the North Terminal, and opened on September 17, 2008, replacing the Berry and Smith terminals. It was designed by Gensler and built by a joint venture of Walbridge and Barton Malow. The Wayne County Airport Authority initially sought bids for the naming rights of the North Terminal, though those plans were abandoned in 2010. It was renamed in April 2022 after Warren Evans, who is the current county executive of Wayne County as of 2026.

Evans Terminal houses two six-lane security checkpoints, and eight gates equipped to serve international flights, which feed to U.S. Customs & Border Protection inspection facilities located on the lower level. It is also home to a Lufthansa Business and Senator Lounge, available to passengers flying in Lufthansa premium cabins as well as select Lufthansa and Star Alliance elite members. This lounge also grants access to Priority Pass members outside of peak hours.

Historical terminals

The Berry Terminal, named for the former airport commissioner Michael Berry, was designed by Detroit architect Louis G. Redstone, and opened in 1974 as the international terminal at DTW. It was decommissioned on September 17, 2008, and replaced by the Evans Terminal; however, the airport authority voted May 20, 2009, to renovate the terminal to house its offices. All international passengers would arrive at this terminal, pass through customs and immigration inspection, and continue on to their connecting flights by bus to adjacent terminals.

Originally containing six gates (two of which were removed in 2003 to allow for construction of an adjacent Northwest Airlines maintenance hangar), the terminal was later used for scheduled and charter flights. There were still several international scheduled flights on low cost carriers to destinations in the Caribbean and other warm-weathered places in the early 2000s (decade), including flights from Champion Air, Ryan International Airlines, and USA3000 Airlines. Four charter airlines also used this terminal.

Following its closure in 2008, the Berry Terminal became a popular space for commercial film and television production. Films such as Up in the Air (2009), Machine Gun Preacher (2011), and This Must Be the Place (2011) used the vacant terminal as a set (in addition to shooting in and around the airport's active terminals). The Berry Terminal was demolished in 2018.

The Smith Terminal, named for Detroit-Wayne Major airport visionary Leroy C. Smith, was built in 1958. Though cited as the oldest of Metro Airport's terminals, that designation belongs to the Executive Terminal building located near Middlebelt Road and Lucas Drive, one-quarter-mile east. The Executive Terminal was built in the late 1920s and is still in operation today as home to ASIG, a flight support company.

The Smith Terminal's 32 gates originally housed Northwest Orient Airlines, Allegheny Airlines (forerunner to US Airways), Eastern Air Lines, and Pan-Am, among others. A control tower was included in the construction, and served its purpose until the late 1980s, when a new control tower was built near the site of the new McNamara Terminal.

In later years, Smith Terminal hosted North American carriers other than Northwest, Continental, and later Delta, which relocated to the McNamara Terminal in 2002 before its merger with Northwest.

Ground transportation

The airport is accessible from I-94 via Merriman Road (exit 198), which is the nearest entrance to the Evans Terminal, and from I-275 via Eureka Road (exit 15), which is closer to the McNamara Terminal. Both entrances and the terminals are connected by John D. Dingell Drive, an expressway completed in 1999 and named after the longtime Congressman. Cell phone lots are located near both entrances.

The airport includes two large parking garages, one adjacent to each terminal. The McNamara Terminal parking garage includes 11,500 spaces, spanning 1,863,000 square feet (173,100 m2), and is reportedly the third-largest parking garage in the world. Adjacent to the Evans Terminal is the Big Blue Deck, which was constructed between 1992 and 1994 to serve the Smith and Berry terminals, and later expanded with the opening of Evans Terminal.

Free shuttle buses are available between the two terminals, and also connect to the Green parking lots. Rental car companies provide their own shuttles, as do private offsite parking lots and most hotels in the airport's vicinity.

Multiple public transit bus services serve Metro Airport:

The RTA's Detroit Air Xpress (DAX) provides non-stop service from both terminals to downtown Detroit via I-94.

SMART operates the FAST Michigan, a limited-stop bus service from both terminals to downtown Detroit via Michigan Avenue and Dearborn.

The Michigan Flyer intercity bus service offers transportation from both terminals to Ann Arbor and East Lansing.

SMART additionally operates two local bus routes originating at Metro Airport: route 125, to communities in the Downriver region of southern Wayne County, serves both terminals; and route 280, to downtown Romulus and other suburbs in western Wayne County, serves only the Evans Terminal.

Robert Q Airbus, a private operator, offers scheduled bus service from Metro Airport to Windsor, London, and other cities in Ontario, Canada.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

December 30, 1963, a Zantop Air Transport C-46 Commando with 4 occupants crashed 2.2 miles SW of DTW, killing all aboard. A loss of control during a night instrument approach in adverse weather was the probable cause.

June 12, 1972, after a stopover in Detroit, American Airlines Flight 96, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 with 56 passengers and 11 crew from Los Angeles International Airport en route to Buffalo, New York, suffered a cargo door failure and explosive decompression shortly after departure from Detroit Metropolitan Airport while flying over Windsor, Ontario. It is thus sometimes referred to as the Windsor incident. The aircraft sustained damage that left the pilots without full flight controls but the plane returned to Detroit for a successful emergency landing. There were no fatalities but several serious to minor injuries.

July 31, 1972, Delta Air Lines Flight 841; members of the Black Liberation Army took over the airplane in flight using weapons smuggled on board, including a Bible, cut out to hold a handgun. The plane held seven crew and 94 passengers, none of whom was killed during the hijacking. Five hijackers who had boarded with three children took over the plane. The plane flew to Miami, where the passengers were exchanged for $1 million in ransom. The plane was then flown on to Boston, where it refueled before flying to Algeria. Algeria seized the plane and ransom, which they returned to the U.S., but the hijackers were released after a few days.

December 15, 1972, a Zantop International Airlines Learjet 23, a ferry flight, crashed after failing to climb from runway 3R, hitting a fuel storage tank. Both occupants on board and one on the ground were killed. Cause undetermined.

January 19, 1979, a Learjet 25 operated by Massey Ferguson rolled violently and crashed on approach to runway 09. The probable causes were icing, wake vortex by a preceding McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and a delayed application of engine thrust during an attempted go-around. All six occupants (two crew, four passengers) were killed.

On April 4, 1979, TWA Flight 841 (1979) went into a dive above Saginaw, Michigan. The flight made an emergency landing at DTW.