MICENTRAL

Expanding the airport
We cannot turn our backs on millions of dollars in investments

Airport holds six meetings on expansion

The Wayne County Airport Authority is nearing the end of hosting six informational sessions on the proposed expansion plan for Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The public open houses will provide people the chance to learn more about the proposed master plan that features a fifth runway to accommodate forecasted growth and other projects.

Four open house sessions have already been held. The final one is scheduled today (May 1), and will be held at The Metropolitan Hotel, 31500 Wick Road, Romulus, at 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m.

Authority officials say they are hoping that by having morning and evening time slots, it will maximize community participation.

On March 20, the airport authority board postponed action on the master plan to May 22 to allow additional time to address officials’ and residents’ concerns.

For more details about the open house, call Michelle Plawecki at 1-734-955-3280.

Does anyone remember what it was like to travel in and out of Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 1999 and 2000? The airport was experiencing record numbers of passengers. The Smith and Davey terminals were so crowded that people began to compare our airport to Third World countries.

Concourses were crowded. Connections were complicated. Ceilings were low. Parking was at a premium. Conces-sions were inadequate and in the bag claim at 4 in the afternoon, it was actually difficult to find a place to stand.

Worse yet, there were few opportunities for low-cost airlines to enter our market and compete with the network carriers, due to a shortage of gates.

We fixed that.

When the airport’s fourth parallel runway opened in 2001, airfield capacity for landings and takeoffs increased 25 percent. The beautiful and efficient new McNamara Terminal opened in 2002 and the word spread among travelers around the world.

Passengers actually began intentionally scheduling their connections in Detroit to experience the smooth and easy transition from international to domestic flights.

A wide new road provided access from I-275 and parking availability nearly doubled.

Customer satisfaction skyrocketed, new jobs were created and Detroit-area residents actually became proud of their airport once again.

Better yet, competition arrived in Detroit. With available gates, Frontier, AirTran, Air France, Royal Jordanian and USA 3000 are flying scheduled service now and Southwest and Spirit have added destinations.

China Southern and Aero Mexico are on the way with more international opportunities.

Our valued hub carrier, Northwest Airlines, which provides our market with so many critical international flights, now enjoys a much more efficient terminal in its largest hub city and has also added new destinations, including Shanghai in 2009.

This fall, we will open another efficient new terminal and decommission the aging Smith and Berry terminals.

However, we need to look further into the future than that.

With a modest average annual growth rate of just 2.3 percent, the airport will be handling 58 million to 60 million annual passengers by about 2025. While our current capacity is more than adequate to handle today’s 36 million annual passengers, now is the time to develop responsible strategies for accommodating projected growth.

The airport’s master plan outlines the need for more gates, new taxiways and an automated transit system to connect passengers among terminals, parking lots and car-rental facilities.

While there is plenty of pavement to handle today’s aircraft arrivals and departures, a day will come in the future when the facility will begin to suffer delays.

Even with advances in air traffic control technology and instrumentation, a new independent parallel runway will be necessary.

Unfortunately, a new runway would displace residents and businesses in Romulus, but airport management has committed to treating homeowners fairly and to working with the city to relocate as many as possible within the boundaries of Romulus.

Building a runway at a major U.S. airport historically takes about 10 years. The actual physical construction takes around two years; however, prior to putting a shovel in the ground, the Federal Aviation Administration requires comprehensive environmental impact studies.

Conducting the studies and the review and approval process alone can take three or more years and can’t get started until the airport begins to achieve its demand forecast.

Add the requirement to develop a project plan of finance, followed by land acquisition and the timeline brings the airport to the point where we must plan now for the future.

It is important that the airport authority consider its obligation to the entire region.

A University of Michigan-Dearborn study estimates that activity at Detroit Metro Airport generates an annual economic impact of $7.6 billion and more than 71,000 jobs across the state.

We do know that of the 18,000 airport employees with security badges, more than 800 are residents of Romulus. Many more work in nearby businesses outside our fence, such as freight forwarding, hotels and other support services.

In an era when local manufacturing jobs are in decline, we should not take actions to stifle jobs in aviation. In the long run, new aviation activity, including passenger and air cargo services, will benefit both Romulus and the entire region.

Our community faces a challenging question. Will we seize the day and enact a plan to grow along with the rest of aviation and the travel industry? Or, do we believe we can maintain a powerful position in the global economy without expanding our infrastructure?

In today’s economic climate, actions to suffocate the airport’s ability to expand and to allow the airport to become so congested that it starts losing airlines, passengers and jobs would be irresponsible.

We should not turn our backs on the millions of dollars the airlines, federal government and every-day passengers are willing to invest here the Detroit area to help our airport and our region grow.

Lester Robinson is the chief executive officer of the Wayne County Airport Authority, which oversees Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Willow Run Airport.