b'34 DET GENERAL AVIATIONColeman A. Young MunicipalGets a Motor City MakeoverBY MICHELLE GARDNERWith crumbling infrastructure,to downtown Detroit and just 10 miles FACTS&FIGUREScemeteries on three sides and itsfrom the U.S./Canada border. The Detroit Airport Layout Plan lying dormantnative just needed to convince the mayor Project: Redeveloping & Modernizing Facilitiesfor decades, Coleman A. Young Municipaland city council that DET could be a viable Unique Challenges: Decades of decline; city bankruptcy Airport (DET) in Detroit had pretty muchasset for the city, state and beyond. The Location: Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport, Detroit, MI been left for dead. Lately, however, there areairport is an add-on feature to a thriving, Owner/Operator: City of Detroit promising signs of a resurrection thanks torobust city, Watt explains. I needed the Size: 300 acres local support and up to $70 million in federalcity to get to a thriving robust phase for funding and $4 million in state support forthem to put the proper attention that was Age: 98 yrs. old improvements over the next 10 years.needed at the airport. Annual Operations: 60,000Just two years after Based Aircraft: 145Jason Watt was hiredBuilding CoalitionsAirport Employees: 11as director of the city- and Consensus Key Milestone: Receiving FAA approval for Airport Layoutowned airport, DetroitWhen the city came out of bankruptcy in Plan in 2022declared bankruptcy.December 2014, Watt needed a solid team Investment: $84 million for infrastructure improvementsNot surprisingly, plansaround him to keep the airport alive. Some over 10 yearsto modernize, or evenemployees left during the bankruptcy, Funding: 90% FAA, 5% state, 5% city maintain, the airportJASON WATT which he describes in retrospect as an Airport Study: Avion Solutions Group LLC were not prioritiesopportunity to hire new talent for the for beleaguered leaders desperate to findmission ahead. Airport Consultant: Kimley-Horn ways to cut and/or monetize the citysDespite little to no financial investment Key Development: Airspace Experience Technologiesholdings. As an enterprise fund facility,in DET from the city, several private is developing large-scale eVTOL aircraft onsite; 2 tenantsDET was considered expendable, and citygroups stepped up to help maintain (Avflight & MyFlight Tours) broke ground for multimillion-dollar facilities this year; Runway Safe is under contractofficials wanted to explore alternative usesoperations at the airfield widely known to provide Engineered Materials Arresting Systems on bothfor the land it occupied.as Detroit City Airport. Key supporters ends of primary runway in 2027; B.O. Davis AerospaceConversely, Watt saw great potentialincluded the Friends of Detroit City Airport; Technical High School will begin holding classes inTuskegee Airmen National Museum; the remodeled passenger terminal in 2027in DET because it is the closest airport October 2025AirportImprovement.com'