Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (KDTW) is a major Class B international hub serving the Detroit metropolitan area, located in Romulus, Michigan, about 18 miles southwest of downtown Detroit. Operated by the Wayne County Airport Authority and the principal hub for Delta Air Lines, it presents the simulator pilot with a complex of six long, parallel instrument runways and a busy airline traffic environment. Its history stretches back to 1930, taking in wartime military use, jet-age expansion, and decades of growth into one of North America's busiest hubs.
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, generally known as Detroit Metro or DTW, is a large international airport in Romulus, Michigan, roughly 18 miles southwest of downtown Detroit. It is operated by the Wayne County Airport Authority and serves as the second-largest hub for Delta Air Lines. For the simulator pilot, DTW is notable for its six long parallel and near-parallel hard runways, heavy commercial jet traffic, and Class B controlled airspace, making it a demanding but rewarding destination for airline or business jet operations rather than light general aviation.
DTW sits within Class B controlled airspace, reflecting its status as a large hub airport, and lies in Romulus, a suburb roughly 18 miles southwest of downtown Detroit. The airport also serves the wider region, including Ann Arbor to the west, Windsor and Southwestern Ontario in Canada to the east, and the Toledo, Ohio area some 40 miles to the south. Willow Run Airport lies to the west of DTW and was itself the primary Detroit-area airline airport before traffic consolidated at Wayne County Airport in the late 1950s and 1960s.
DTW has six physical runways, all hard-surfaced and lit. The longest pair, 04R/22L, runs to around 11,500-12,000 feet and is equipped with an ILS. Runway pair 04L/22R measures 9,997 feet, also with an ILS, while 03R/21L is 9,996 feet and likewise ILS-equipped. Runway pair 03L/21R is shorter at 8,500 feet without a published ILS. The two remaining parallels are 09L/27R at 8,693 feet, with an ILS available on the 27R end, and 09R/27L at 8,485 feet, with an ILS on the 27L end. Field elevation is 633 feet.
DTW is a fully controlled field with Metro Tower providing tower service on 118.4 MHz and ground movements handled on 119.25 MHz. Approach control operates on 118.575 MHz, which is also used for pre-taxi clearance delivery, while ATIS is broadcast on 133.675 MHz. Clearance delivery is additionally available on 120.65 MHz, and a remote Lansing radio outlet operates on 115.7 MHz. UNICOM is on 122.95 MHz. Multiple runways are served by ILS approaches, supporting instrument arrivals in a range of weather conditions.
As a large Class B hub airport handling continuous airline traffic, DTW arrivals and departures are conducted under full ATC control rather than informal circuit procedures, with aircraft sequenced and vectored by approach control onto the ILS or visual approaches to the appropriate parallel runway. Simulator pilots should expect to fly standard IFR arrival and departure routings and to follow tower and ground instructions closely given the volume of commercial traffic.
Wayne County began planning an airport in its western townships as early as 1927, purchasing land at the corner of Middlebelt and Wick roads; construction finished in 1929, the first landing took place on 22 February 1930, and the airport was formally dedicated on 4 September 1930. Thompson Aeronautical Corporation, a forerunner of American Airlines, began service that year. From 1931 to 1945 the field hosted Michigan Air National Guard operations under the U.S. Army Air Forces and was known during the war as Romulus Field, with the intersection of its original two wartime runways still visible today. Postwar, Wayne County expanded the airport, renaming it Detroit-Wayne Major Airport in 1947 and adding runways 3L/21R and 9L/27R in 1949, followed by 4R/22L in 1950. Pan American Airways and BOAC began transatlantic passenger services in 1954 and 1956 respectively. In 1958 the airport gained new long-range radar, becoming the first inland US airport certified for jet airliners, and was given its present name upon completion of the Leroy C. Smith Terminal. American Airlines, Northwest, Allegheny and Delta all moved operations from Willow Run to Detroit-Wayne by early 1959, and Delta introduced the airport's first scheduled jet service, DC-8s to Miami, in late 1959. Further terminal development followed, including the North Terminal in 1966 and the Michael Berry International Terminal in 1974. The last of the original three parallel runways, 3R/21L, was completed in 1976, and a new parallel crosswind runway, 9R/27L, opened in 1993.
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is today Michigan's busiest airport by a wide margin and a major hub for Delta Air Lines, with service to around 140 destinations across the United States and internationally. Passenger operations are concentrated in two terminals, and the airfield's six parallel and near-parallel runways, several equipped with ILS, support sustained heavy commercial jet traffic. Given its status as a large hub airport within Class B airspace, general aviation access is limited and prior permission would be required for any non-scheduled operation.
