Detroit City Airport to Be Revitalized by $100 Million in FAA Funding

Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport (DET), after languishing as an underused and neglected facility for decades and even being considered for closure, is set to begin a massive transformation that civic leaders are optimistic will bring significant new investment and economic benefits to the east Detroit neighborhoods that surround it. This news comes after three years of drafting, engaging the community, and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) review; the agency approved the airport’s first new Master Layout Plan in thirty years. The approval clears the way for significant capital improvements by securing eligibility for up to $100 million in FAA Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grant funding over the next ten years. In addition, the cost of developing the plan was partially covered by a grant of $111,000 from the Michigan Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division.

The master plan calls for building new hangars for larger business aircraft, smaller hangars for single-engine planes, and some with offices for community use. A new control tower and taxiway and runway safety zone improvements are planned. The crosswind runway 7/25 will be decommissioned and removed to free up 80 acres of new aeronautical development land. In addition, the airport will see the return of Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Aerospace Technical High School, which moved to an off-airport location in the Golightly Career & Tech Center in 2013. The school has an FAA-certified aviation curriculum and is one of only two Michigan high schools to offer such a program. An onsite Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting Service, which left in 2012, will also be re-established at the airport.