Would the economy in the region be able to support two airports? Thoughts on possible carriers? An LCC?
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Is Detroit set to become a two-airport city once again?
The Detroit Free Press reports the city is negotiating with a charter carrier that would like to bring regularly scheduled passenger flights back to Detroit's Coleman A. Young International Airport.
__________________ 2013 TATL/TPAC: DL: 12; AA: 6 U/G: DL: 5/7 AA: 3/3 Have you seen Floyd the Flamingo?!
That brings back some memories....
Back in the 70's, before anyone even thought about security, I used to fly from Burke Lakefront in downtown Cleveland up to Detroit City Airport.
With a 6:30am flight there was no traffic issues getting there & you could park about 20-30 feet from the terminal. I could leave my house at 6:00am and make the flight without sweat.
Edited to add: It was Wright Airlines.... pretty sure it was a Convair twin...
Would the economy in the region be able to support two airports? Thoughts on possible carriers? An LCC?
Southwest started its Detroit service at City in the early 90s, but gave up and moved to DTW. Pro Air, a startup, tried and failed too, even with negotiated contracts with GM (and I think Chrysler). I won't hold my breath for a new commercial carrier there anytime soon.
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If our founding fathers were as selfish and stubborn as people are today, we wouldn't have a constitution!
Everything I read about Detroit is in the context of the city shrinking, consolidating schools, cutting gov't services, etc. Example article here, they want to formally remove street lights. Even setting aside possible passenger demand - - could the addition of one carrier, or a few more flights, possibly justify the gov't expense of operating a second airport?
Flights are pretty full most of the time, but I suspect capacity could be increased before operation of a new/old airport would become a viable option.
Yes, GM and Chrysler had a deal where executives (and some mid/upper managers) could fly Pro Air for ~$30 each way iirc. I remember when I was younger and my mom still worked at Chrysler we flew it for a weekend in D.C. It's the only time I've ever gone out of City Airport. I don't remember much about it besides our flight being the only one there at the time... and we got through security really quick (granted this was pre-9/11 as well).
More to the point of DET being a functioning airport: I love my hometown (I live in PHL area now), but it's not a two airport city. More importantly being closer to downtown means little/nothing since nobody lives in the city, most of the population lives in the suburbs. I don't see DET ever being a big hub or destination, not in my lifetime anyway.
Yes,
More to the point of DET being a functioning airport: I love my hometown (I live in PHL area now), but it's not a two airport city. More importantly being closer to downtown means little/nothing since nobody lives in the city, most of the population lives in the suburbs. I don't see DET ever being a big hub or destination, not in my lifetime anyway.
I used DET twice, once with WN and once with ProAir -- one nice thing about it was you could be in your car, 10 minutes after the plane got to the gate.
At DTW, that can take 20 to 30 minutes if you park off airport.
Also, DET serves the eastern suburbs, e.g. Grosse Pointe.
