Huh?! DTW seems to have a major runway OOS for reconstruction, yet it has not had the impact on ops that MSP's closure has. There is a lot to be said for two sets of parallel runways - two inbound and two outbound - in support of a major hub. Certainly weather has been a factor, but isn't that why A/C are equipped for instrument-guided ops?

There is no reason why MSP could not be de-hubbed, or at least downgraded to a feeder micro-hub, and still have some maintenance and other support (e.g. meteorological) ops remain in the area. It is hard to imagine a combined DL-NW keeping their HQ in MSP vs. ATL, however. The southeast is (perceived) to be much more corporate-friendly than the upper Midwest, for better or worse.

I don't have a vested interest in this debate, as the current FNT-DTW bank could certainly be shifted to FNT-MSP. I also happen to like Minnesota. I just believe that the runway-taxiway capacity and terminal infrastructure in DTW is far superior to MSP. The remainder is secondary to keeping the system fluid.