Belanger Park River Rouge
NFL DRAFT THONGS DOWNTOWN DETROIT »



Results 1 to 13 of 13

Hybrid View

  1. #1

    Default

    DTW is indeed an excellent facility and compares favorably to any in the U.S. Especially the McNamara terminal. The Evans terminal is clean and efficient but pretty bare bones. The whole "new" facility is over 20 years though. Lots of new terminals have been built in the interim [Newark, LaGuardia, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Nashville, JFK, LAX etc] and just as with stadiums, it can be hard to keep up. With an older facility, you gotta keep up with the operational things [working walkways, clean bathrooms, baggage claim efficiency, security lines] and avoid too many food and retail vacancies in order to keep up with the arms race. DTW is doing this well so far. A centralized rental car facility would go a long way in keeping the facility in the top tier.

  2. #2

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by swingline View Post
    A centralized rental car facility would go a long way in keeping the facility in the top tier.
    I think the current system works OK as long as there not too much congestion at the airport, but I definitely prefer the more modern approach of the combined rental facility closer to the terminals.

    Of course what the airport really lacks is a fast connection to the city--ideally there would be fast connections to both downtown/midtown and Ann Arbor. I realize that isn't mostly up to the people running the airport, but it would be great for the convention business, not to mention lots of normal people.

  3. #3

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mwilbert View Post
    I think the current system works OK as long as there not too much congestion at the airport, but I definitely prefer the more modern approach of the combined rental facility closer to the terminals.

    Of course what the airport really lacks is a fast connection to the city--ideally there would be fast connections to both downtown/midtown and Ann Arbor. I realize that isn't mostly up to the people running the airport, but it would be great for the convention business, not to mention lots of normal people.
    I flew in and out of DTW a few months ago and as usual it was a good experience. I certainly agree on the connection issue. I fly to SFO a few times a year and having a BART station right at the terminal is fantastic.

  4. #4

    Default

    Having just flown back from Denver International last winter, DTW is an absolute dream.

    For the uninitiated, to depart from a shuttle, you arrive at level 5, head up to level 6 to drop off your luggage, head back down to level 5 for security, drop down to the basement to get the tram to take you to the gates, head then back up to get to the actual gates. You can walk down the main spine to get to the various gates, but the walkway isn't linear, you have to keep diverging back and forth through the gates, and it's not always clear how to get to the other side.

    It's a disaster. It was purposefully built that way. Everyone complains about it. They re-engineered it in the early 1990s and it made everything worse. It's mind bogglingly huge. It sits on a mostly empty piece of land that could house a good-sized city. There's a city train that takes you to Denver [[that you have to descend three flights of outdoor stairs to get to) and it takes a solid 25 minutes before your first stop, mainly going through the enormous void that surrounds the airport.

    Yep, DTW is fantastic. Ten minutes off the freeway and you're at the gate. Through a door and you're at security, down a flight of stairs and your gate is either left or right, or forward a couple hundred yards then left or right.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Instagram
BEST ONLINE FORUM FOR
DETROIT-BASED DISCUSSION
DetroitYES Awarded BEST OF DETROIT 2015 - Detroit MetroTimes - Best Online Forum for Detroit-based Discussion 2015

ENJOY DETROITYES?


AND HAVE ADS REMOVED DETAILS »





Welcome to DetroitYES! Kindly Consider Turning Off Your Ad BlockingX
DetroitYES! is a free service that relies on revenue from ad display [regrettably] and donations. We notice that you are using an ad-blocking program that prevents us from earning revenue during your visit.
Ads are REMOVED for Members who donate to DetroitYES! [You must be logged in for ads to disappear]
DONATE HERE »
And have Ads removed.