Construction, additions, smallness....... but young Jedi, don't forget...nice lighted, relaxing tunnel, WorldClub of it's own, and yes, an secret Irish Pub (w/ sucky service - sit at the bar!). :)

I am from Detroit and the rest of the terminals suck in DTW due to NWA's actions to prevent competition. The Smith Terminal is horrendous and NWA's old terminal (Smith?) stands unused becuase if it is opened then DTW will have double the amount of current gates.

The Davey Terminal is being demolished to build a new North Terminal. You just have to wait a couple of years. After it's built, the Smith terminal will be demolished as well.

http://www.metroairport.com/project/

I'm glad that old terminal is set for destruction. In my opinion it was proably the nastiest airline terminal in the country.

Just to clarify things ....

There is an "old" terminal at DTW which was build by United and which NW took over -- it's been closed and is the one that's being torn down.

There also is an older terminal that predates what was the old NW one and it's still in use.

One other thought NW has never had a good C concourse at DTW in either the new or old terminal and gate C26 remains the end of the world !

Bob H

Thank You!
 

Thanks to everyone for the updated info on the "new" C Concourse.

But now, recent posters have opened up a whole new can of worms. As a frequent visitor to DTW as a destination, due to family and other reasons (I know I am a rarity) I try to keep up on what is going on in SE Michigan. And I have never seen any definitive explanation for why, after NW moved out of the old Davey Terminal, the other airlines did not move in!

It would have made a lot more sense to retain this newer Terminal and tear down the ancient and decrepit Smith Terminal building. If NW owned the gates or owned the improvements that had been made, then shouldn't Wayne County have bought them back from NW! That would have been a lot cheaper than building a whole new terminal after tearing the old one down. And besides, that terminal was built with the idea of multiple airlines using it. It was NEVER a good building to be used as a hub, with multiple transfers going on between gates. Even if it was 30+ years old, it was a perfectly good building for O and D operations, and perhaps Wayne County totally "missed the boat", as they so often do!!!

Comments and updated info, please. Thanks.

Very true! When I first started flying to DTW, I would take DL as I was Plat with them....this concourse was one reason for switching to NWA.

See AIRPORT EXPANDS: NWA cuts Metro flights but grows Concourse C.

Some details:

Flew through DTW Monday morning and made a coonection on the new C concourse. I have to say it is a great improvement over the old temporary C, but it still makes for a long trek, especially if you have a tight connection. At least the new C has facilities and monitors all over the place. The one thing I noticed though is that although the actual gate areas have seating, there doesn't seem to be enough seating to accomodate every one who may be waiting to board. Also, some of the gate areas service 2 flights at the same time. I wonder what it will be like when they finally get all the gates open. Right now they only have the even numbered gates open, as they have to demolish the old C concourse in order to get the jetways up on the odd numbered gates. But, as I stated, it is an improvement.