DTW has 2 passenger terminals and 4 concourses with a total of 147 gates.
Edward H. McNamara Terminal The McNamara Terminal, also once known as the
Northwest WorldGateway, opened February 24, 2002. Designed by
SmithGroup and built by
Hunt Construction Group, it replaced the aged Davey Terminal (which was located where the Evans Terminal stands now). During development, the terminal was known as the Midfield Terminal. At nearly in length, Concourse A in McNamara Terminal is the second-longest airport concourse in the world (the longest is in Terminal 1 of
Kansai International Airport in Japan). In addition to
moving walkways spaced along the length of each concourse, Concourse A has a
people mover, the
ExpressTram. It transports passengers between each end of Concourse A in just over three minutes. Trams arrive almost simultaneously at the
Terminal Station, in the midpoint of the concourse and depart in opposite directions to the
North Station and the
South Station, then return. The McNamara Terminal opened a new baggage sorting facility in October 2008, which has improved the screening of baggage through 14 new explosive detection system devices along a fully automated conveyor system. Northwest Airlines said that it reduced the amount of lost baggage, and it improved the timeliness of bags getting to their correct flight. An
AAA Four Star
Westin hotel is connected to the A concourse. Additionally, overnight guests at the hotel who are not flying can obtain a pass to enter the concourses to visit shops and restaurants. Called the
Airport Access Authorization to Commercial Establishments Beyond the Screen Checkpoint (AAACE), registered guests must be cleared through the same security background check (
Secure Flight) and
TSA screening process as travelers to access the terminal area.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is the only other airport participating in this program. The A concourse houses 78 gates with 12 gates used for international departures and arrivals processing. The concourse contains over of moving walkways. The A concourse also includes a pet relief area for passengers traveling with pets and service animals. Signage through the terminal is in English, along with Japanese, due to a large number of business travelers from Japan. Izumi Suzuki, a
Sheraton employee, and several colleagues provided the Japanese translations used by the airport. In previous eras many Japanese travelers going through Detroit missed connections due to a lack of
English comprehension. Also, messages reminding travelers to configure watches to the
Eastern Time Zone regularly broadcast through the
public address system are said in English, Japanese, and Mandarin. In addition to the ticketing level, there's an additional ticketing and security area for passengers using the parking structures. The terminal houses ten international gates that are capable of dual
jet bridge loading and unloading. The gates contain two exit configurations depending on the arriving flight. Domestic arrivals follow an upper path directly into the terminal, while international arrivals proceed downstairs to customs and immigration screening. The
Customs and Border Protection processing center located in the terminal's lower level is designed to accommodate as many as 3,200 passengers per hour. International arriving passengers connecting to another flight are screened by
TSA at a dedicated screening checkpoint within the international arrivals facility. Those passengers then exit directly back into the center of the A concourse. Passengers arriving from international destinations who end their trip in Detroit (or connecting to a flight via Evans Terminal) exit directly into a dedicated International Arrivals Hall on the lower level of the terminal. The B and C concourses currently have 41 gates that are used for Delta's regional flights that employ smaller aircraft. All regional flights have
jet bridges, eliminating the need for outdoor boarding. The B and C concourses are connected to the main terminal building and the A concourse by a pedestrian walkway under the
airport ramp. This walkway, known as the
Light Tunnel, features an elaborate multi-colored light show behind sculpted glass panels extending the entire length of the walkway, as well as several
moving walkways. The light patterns are synchronized with an original musical score composed by Victor Alexeeff, which runs for nearly 30 minutes before repeating. This installation, one of the first large-scale uses of color-changing
LED lighting in the United States, was produced by
Mills James Productions with glasswork by Foxfire Glass Works of
Pontiac, Michigan. The display won multiple lighting design awards, including the prestigious Guth Award of Merit. For passengers prone to medical conditions such as seizures, buttons at each end of the tunnel will suspend the light show for five minutes so they can pass through with no adverse effects. The terminal has undergone updates that include new electronic terminal directories to assist passengers better. A unique feature of this is that passengers can scan their boarding passes, and the screen will direct them to the gate from which their plane departs. The passenger can also choose to view the information in other languages. Passengers may select a restaurant on the touch screen, and a menu will show what items the restaurant serves. Mini tablet devices and phone/tablet apps have been installed in food court areas, where travelers may order food and have it delivered to their table. There are five Delta Sky Clubs located in the McNamara terminal. The largest is located above the central link across from gate A38. Next to that, across from gate A43, houses a smaller Sky Club. There are two satellite Sky Clubs in Concourse A located on the upper level near gates A18 and A68, across from their respective ExpressTram stations. An additional Sky Club is located in Concourse C, at gate level near the entrance to Concourse C. This lounge services Delta Connection flights in concourses B & C.
Warren Cleage Evans Terminal The Evans Terminal, formerly known as the
North Terminal, was designed by
Gensler and built by Walbridge/Barton Malow Joint Venture, opened September 17, 2008, as the replacement for the aged Berry and Smith terminals, which housed all non-
SkyTeam airlines. It used to be known as the North Terminal until it was renamed on April 4, 2022. Initially,
Wayne County Airport Authority sought bids for the
naming rights of the North Terminal. After two years with no successful offers, however, the effort ceased and the
North Terminal name remained. The terminal currently houses all non-SkyTeam airlines serving the airport and is considered D Concourse. (Concourses A, B, and C are housed in the McNamara Terminal) The concourse has 29 gates, two of which opened in the middle of 2009 to accommodate international wide-body aircraft, and three of which were added to the north end of the concourse in 2022. The two gates were unusable at the building's opening because they were extremely close to Smith Terminal's C concourse, which was demolished after operations moved to the new facility. The terminal features four long segments of moving walkways on the departures level and another moving walkway on the lower level, for international arriving passengers to access the Federal Inspection Services area. Airlines that utilize the Evans Terminal include
Air Canada,
Alaska Airlines,
American Airlines,
American Eagle,
Avelo Airlines,
Frontier Airlines,
Icelandair,
JetBlue,
Lufthansa,
Royal Jordanian,
Southwest Airlines,
Sun Country Airlines,
Turkish Airlines,
United Airlines,
United Express, and all non-
SkyTeam and non-Delta partner charters. The Evans Terminal houses two six-lane security checkpoints. The terminal also has U.S.
Customs & Border Protection inspection facilities located on the lower level for arriving international flights. This terminal includes a brand new service pet relief area to accommodate passengers traveling with pets. The Evans Terminal has five common-use domestic baggage carousels on the lower level. Two additional carousels are located inside the Federal Inspection Services area for international flights, and a central Oversize Baggage Claim is adjacent to both the international and domestic carousel areas. On January 29, 2010, the Evans Terminal was named winner of the "Build Michigan" award project. The Evans Terminal is home to a Lufthansa Business and Senator Lounge located between Gates D7 and D8. This lounge is accessible to passengers flying in Lufthansa premium cabins as well as select Lufthansa and Star Alliance elite members. This lounge also grants access to Priority Pass members outside of peak hours.
Historical terminals Michael Berry Terminal The Berry Terminal, named for a former airport commissioner, was designed by Detroit architect Louis G. Redstone, and opened in 1974 as the international terminal at DTW. It was decommissioned on September 17, 2008, and replaced by the Evans Terminal; however, the airport authority voted May 20, 2009, to renovate the terminal to house its offices. All international passengers would arrive at this terminal, pass through customs and immigration inspection, and continue on to their connecting flights by bus to adjacent terminals. Originally containing six gates (two of which were removed in 2003 to allow for construction of an adjacent Northwest Airlines maintenance hangar), the terminal was later used for scheduled and charter flights. There were still several international scheduled flights on low cost carriers to destinations in the
Caribbean and other warm-weathered places in the early 2000s (decade), including flights from
Champion Air,
Ryan International Airlines, and
USA3000 Airlines. Four charter airlines also used this terminal. Following its closure in 2008, the Berry Terminal became a popular space for commercial film and television production. Films such as
Up in the Air (2009),
Machine Gun Preacher (2011), and
This Must Be the Place (2011) used the vacant terminal as a set (in addition to shooting in and around the airport's active terminals). The Berry Terminal was demolished in 2018.
Leroy C. Smith Terminal The Smith Terminal, named for Detroit-Wayne Major airport visionary Leroy C. Smith, was built in 1958. Though cited as the oldest of Metro Airport's terminals, that designation belongs to the
Executive Terminal building located near Middlebelt Road and Lucas Drive, one-quarter-mile east. The Executive Terminal was built in the late 1920s and is still in operation today as home to ASIG, a flight support company. The Smith Terminal's 32 gates originally housed Northwest Orient Airlines,
Allegheny Airlines (forerunner to
US Airways),
Eastern Air Lines, and
Pan-Am, among others. A control tower was included in the construction, and served its purpose until the late 1980s, when a new control tower was built near the site of the new McNamara Terminal. In later years, Smith Terminal hosted North American carriers other than Northwest, Continental, and later Delta, which relocated to the McNamara Terminal in 2002 before its merger with Northwest. State of the art for its time, the Smith Terminal eventually became victim to airline expansion. The design of the building did not allow for physical expansion of the ticketing area. To accommodate additional airlines, ticketing counters were constructed on the sides of the lobby in areas that previously held lounges and retail. In contrast, the North Terminal was constructed with future expansion in mind.
Spirit Airlines, which operated out of many of the gates once used by Northwest, made few upgrades to the gate areas in those parts of the terminal. The Northwest Airlines display boards near check-in counters at each gate remained in place, with the Northwest logos removed, and a Spirit information board simply affixed over the old signage. On September 10, 2008,
The Detroit News reported that Smith Terminal itself will not be demolished due to the airport authority offices remaining on the upper floors. However, the
Detroit Free Press of October 9, 2008, stated that maintaining the terminal in its present condition would cost upwards of $4 million annually in utilities, a sore spot for airlines at DTW who foot the bill, in part, through airport landing fees; the airlines were hoping for a greater cost savings once the Smith and Berry Terminals were decommissioned. On May 20, 2009, the airport authority formally voted to totally vacate the Smith Terminal, while retaining and renovating the Berry Terminal for its offices. It was renamed the "J. M. Davey Terminal" in 1975 in honor of former airport manager James M. Davey. It originally contained three concourses labeled C to E, as well as a Host Hotel which later was rebranded
Marriott.
Cell phone lots are located near both entrances. Free shuttle buses are available between the two terminals, and also connect to the Green parking lots. Rental car companies provide their own shuttles, as do private offsite parking lots and most hotels in the airport's vicinity.
Public transit Metro Airport is accessible by public transit, served by the
RTA's
Detroit Air Xpress (DAX), an express bus to downtown Detroit; and
SMART's
FAST Michigan, a
limited-stop bus route connecting the airport to Detroit and Dearborn, with connections to the region's wider transit network. Two local bus routes, operated by SMART, also serve the airport: route 125, to communities in the
Downriver region of southern Wayne County, serving both terminals; and route 280, to downtown Romulus and other suburbs in western Wayne County, serving only the Evans Terminal. Transit to
Ann Arbor,
Brighton, and
East Lansing is available with the
Michigan Flyer, an
intercity bus operated by
Indian Trails in partnership with
TheRide. Service to destinations in southern Ontario, Canada, including
Windsor and
London, is offered by Robert Q Airbus, a private operator. Transit buses board from the Ground Transportation Center at the Evans Terminal, and from the departures drop-off area at McNamara. ==Airlines and destinations==