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Flying high in Motor City
© St. Petersburg Times DETROIT -- Detroit Metropolitan Airport has long had a reputation as the nation's worst, a place whose dreary corridors and dearth of decent shops made a flight into or out of Motor City about as appealing as a cruise on the Love Canal. It was if the auto capital of the world had only grudgingly acknowledged the jet age. But all that changed last weekend with the opening of the $1.2-billion Edward H. McNamara Terminal, commonly known as Midfield, the biggest new major airport terminal in the United States in more than a decade. "The size is beyond expectation," marveled Ken Arnold, a machine operator from suburban Detroit, as he gazed up at the cathedral-height ceilings. As light and airy as the old Davie Terminal was dark and claustrophobic, the terminal boasts more than 9,000 Eames-style leather chairs, four play areas and a spectacular $3-million fountain with 45 water jets representing airline flight paths. Travelers who once had to trudge along endless miles of corridors, dubbed the "Northwest workout" by flight attendants for the airport's major carrier, are now whisked to their gates by dozens of moving walkways and what is billed as the world's only overhead tram system running totally inside an airport. Among the more than 70 stores are several that reflect Detroit's contributions to American life, including the Motown Music Review, which offers recordings by the Supremes, Commodores and other legendary local groups, and GM Collections, where a full-size formula race car lures customers into a store stocked with miniature Cadillacs, Buicks and Pontiacs. Even the restrooms are something to brag about. The entrances are decorated with custom-made tiles with real platinum in the glaze, and stalls are a foot deeper than average to accommodate luggage and packages. "New terminal will improve the city's tarnished image," read a headline Monday in a special edition of the Detroit News, reflecting a burst of civic pride in a city long plagued by fragile race relations and high crime and unemployment. Often called "third world" or worse, the old terminal did nothing to dispel outsiders' impressions of Detroit as a place few cared to visit, let alone live. The terminal was built in 1966 and quickly proved inadequate as the number of passengers swelled from 1-million to 30-million a year, making Detroit Metro the nation's 10th busiest airport. In designing the new terminal, which is three times as a big as the old one, the staff looked at many airports around the world, including Tampa International. (A Detroit News editorial this week praised TIA for "a long tradition of innovation" and its "professional management team," contrasting that to the "cronyism" and "political patronage" that have tainted Detroit Metro.) Sunday's opening was not without glitches. The first plane to land -- Northwest Flight 922 from Honolulu -- arrived at 4:35 a.m., almost an hour ahead of schedule because of robust tail winds. That forced Northwest staff to scramble to get the red-carpet treatment ready on time. (Everyone on the first two arriving flights received 10,000 bonus frequent flier points.) Next, passengers quickly discovered that the electronic boards showing where to claim their luggage weren't working. Airport staff pulled out bullhorns and directed travelers to the right luggage carousels, but many complained they had to wait 45 minutes or longer to get their bags. Delays were further extended when the escalator from the baggage claim area broke down. The tram system also stopped twice, both times because of a fire alarm at the Taco Bell. There was no fire, only smoke from a plastic garbage bag left too close to a deep-fat fryer. The bugs continued into Monday, as the terminal got its first real test during the weekday travel crush. The entire janitorial staff walked off the job in a contract dispute, leaving behind dirty floors and overflowing trash and garbage cans. Passengers griped about the lack of signs to the baggage claim area and were unable to find a single working pay phone in either the ticketing area or two of the concourses. Some restaurants had to limit their menu offerings when they began to run out of food. Among the disgruntled travelers was Detroit Red Wing forward Tomas Holmstrom, whose luggage, hockey sticks and skates disappeared Sunday night while he was en route to Florida to play the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Holmstrom did an off-ice workout, but the Wings' equipment manager promised to dig up some gear in time for Tuesday night's game.) "It's brand new and it looks so good," Holmstrom said of the terminal. "But if they can't have people who send the bags in the right direction, I don't know if they need a new airport." - Susan Martin can be contacted at susan@sptimes.com.
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From the Times Travel page
From the AP |
