Kathy and I fly often.  In recent years, I have flown to or through Atlanta, Orlando, Portland, Seattle, Dallas, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Toronto, Cincinnati, Chicago, Charlotte and many small airports.

None of these airports can match Detroit Metro Airport.  The restaurants are good.  The facilities are new.  Delays, in my experience, have been rare.  And it always brings a smile to my face to travel through the belly of the whale when moving between the long-distance “A” corridor and the regional gates.  If you don’t believe that the McNamara Terminal is good, just google “airport rankings” and you’ll see lots of positive comments.

And the airport will only get better in the near future.  The new North Terminal is slated to open sometime this year.  Most airlines besides Northwest will fly out of that terminal.  With the new North Terminal, Metro might become the best large airport in the United States.  Read below for some articles about the upcoming new terminal:

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

http://www.micentral.com/travel/metro/20071017/mc2.shtml

http://www.micentral.com/travel/metro/20071114/mc5.shtml

By contrast, Chicago’s O’Hare Airport continues to get slammed in the rankings.  It has the highest delay rate AND cancellation rate in the country.  I made the mistake of flying through O’Hare a few years back when I made a trip to propose to Kathy.  I was stuck in a corridor for five extra hours with a diamond ring in my pocket as my co-conspirators in Wisconsin tried not to give away the secret to my inquisitive future wife.  I tried to time my calls to her between the frequent public address announcements cancelling additional flight.  Ah, the memories!

Needless to say, we now try to avoid Chicago whenever possible.  Even higher-than-normal winds seem to delay flights there.  And if you see a snowstorm coming, fly anywhere to get away from that place.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-gettingaround_28jan28,0,4172730.story

I am not sure that residents of Monroe County always realize what a great resource Metro Airport is to the county.  From Downtown Monroe, it’s just a bit less than a half-hour drive to Metro Airport via Telegraph Road and I-275.  And there isn’t really any traffic on those roads.  From the airport, a traveler can take direct flights to somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 destinations.

If you are a bottom feeding traveler like myself, the airport raises some interesting travel possibilities.  Northwest and other airlines sometimes offer last minute weekend trips to a variety of lesser-known cities.  For example, just after Christmas, I saw roundtrip flights for two between Detroit and San Jose, CA for about $450.  And that’s for two roundtrip tickets.  A week ago, I purchased a roundtrip ticket to Washington, D.C. for $149.  If you have a friend or relative to stay with, a ticket like that can create a cheap vacation possibility.

I once knew a friend with the travel bug who would visit places like Omaha and Kansas City on weekends when the hotel/flight packages went on sale.  There are almost always one or two VERY interesting things to see and do in every city.  So, he always came back with interesting stories.  He just LOVED Kansas City.

I know that I sound like an infomercial for Detroit Metro, but it really is a great airport.  And it’s a travel and business resource that the Monroe/Downriver/Lenawee County area could do a better job of exploiting.

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