Airport Is A Drain On City Resources, Officials Say

One of Detroit's airports is in danger of closing. Mayor Mike Duggan's administration is looking for experts to contribute to a study about what to do with Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport.

The Detroit News reports that there has not been a commercial flight at what is commonly called City Airport for 15 years. The city is now looking at closing the field and converting the land to other uses. Nothing is off the table, they say.

The airport has for years been subsidized by the city's general fund, according to the report. The last master plan for the airport was conducted in the early 1990s, but possible uses other than as an airport have probably never before been considered, according to Jed Howbert, executive director of Mayor Duggan’s jobs and economy team.

While the land and its infrastructure are considered attractive by industries like automotive and other manufacturing concerns, the airport may continue as an airport. The airport's finances and operations will be examined closely by the Mayor's panel, and expanded aviation operations are still very much on the table. They will also look at what capital upgrades would be necessary to bring back commercial service to City Airport.

But non-aviation uses are also in the mix.

District 3 Councilman Scott Benson, who represents the area where the airport is located, thinks it should remain as an airport to help attract modern commercial air companies. He said that there have been decades of deferred maintenance on the airports runways and other structures, but "that doesn't mean you just throw it away."

FMI: www.detroitmi.gov