Gerald R. Ford International Airport

History

Grand Rapids' first airport broke ground in November 1919, four miles (6.4 km) south of downtown. This was eight years after the area witnessed its first landing, a Wright biplane at Comstock Park State Fairgrounds on September 10, 1911. The airport was operated by the Kent County Board of Supervisors.

The first scheduled air service in the United States was between Grand Rapids and Detroit (actually Dearborn's Ford Airport) on a Ford-Stout monoplane named Miss Grand Rapids, which started July 26, 1926.

In 1938–39 the Works Progress Administration made improvements including new runways and runway widening, fencing, sodding, lighting, remodeling the administration building and construction of a new restaurant.

Circa 1940 the airport was between 32nd and 36th St, from Jefferson Ave east to the railroad; the west end was soon extended south to just north of Himes St and in the 1950s one 5700-ft runway reached south to 44th St.

In 1959 construction began on the present airport in Cascade Township, several miles east of the original one. The new airport opened November 23, 1963, and was dedicated June 6, 1964; it had 6600-ft runway 8/26 and 3400-ft 18/36. The first scheduled jet was a United Airlines Boeing 737-200 on April 28, 1968, from Chicago O'Hare. The aircraft, N9003U, was named 'City of Grand Rapids'.{BOEING 737 by Malcolm L. Hill, The Crowood Press, 2002, pp. 52–53} In 1968 the only scheduled nonstops beyond Michigan were to Chicago and Green Bay.

On January 27, 1977, Kent County Airport was renamed Kent County International Airport with the opening of a U.S. Customs Bureau Office in the main terminal building.

In 1997 the new 8,500-foot (2,600 m) runway 17/35 was added to allow the airport to continue operations during the $32 million reconstruction of runway 8R/26L, completed in 2001. A passenger terminal renovation was completed in 2000 at a cost of about $50 million. Runways 8R/26L and runway 17/35 have ILS. The airport also has a 5,000 ft. general aviation runway north of the main 8R/26L runway.

In 2004 the airport served more than 2 million passengers for the first time in a year. In 2010 the airport broke the 2004 record with almost 2.2 million passengers, as increase of over 23% from 2009.

On January 2, 2007, Air Force One carried the remains of former President Gerald Ford to the airport, which is named after him, as part of funeral services culminating in burial at his Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids the next day.

Until October 31, 2011, the airport was a focus city for Allegiant Air.

In January 2012 Southwest Airlines announced it would continue AirTran flights to Grand Rapids and eventually transfer them to Southwest.

In April 2012 Frontier Airlines ended flights from Grand Rapids to Milwaukee.

During the summer of 2015, Delta Air Lines operated the Boeing 757-200 to Grand Rapids from Detroit, making it the largest aircraft that is currently available to passengers at GRR, the flight will operate again to Detroit in summer 2016.

Facilities

Gerald R. Ford International Airport has two parallel east-west runways and one north-south runway. Along with cargo and general aviation facilities, the airport has a two-level passenger terminal with two concourses: A has seven gates and B has eight.

Concourse A's tenants are Allegiant Air and Delta Air Lines. In concourse B are American Eagle/American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines All gates have climate-controlled jetways.

When new baggage screening regulations were introduced by the Transportation Security Administration in 2002, the airport was one of the first in the nation to conduct trials on the new screening machines. The baggage processing areas were too small for the machines so they were placed in the passenger lobby.

Airlines and destinations

Gerald R. Ford International Airport is served by 5 airlines.

Cargo

82,921,357 pounds of air freight were handled in 2016.

Ground transportation

The airport is at the intersection of 44th Street and Patterson Avenue. It abuts I-96 on the east, M-6 on the south, M-37 on the west, and M-11 on the north.

Metro Cab and Metro Cars provides taxi and luxury sedan service and the airport is served by Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz, and National/Alamo rental car companies on-site.

Rapid route 17, Woodland/Airport, travels between the airport and Woodland Mall (Kentwood Station) on weekdays between 6.30am and 10.30pm. From Woodland Mall, passengers can continue on to downtown or parts of the east side of Grand Rapids via routes 5 and 6, or across town to Grandville and Wyoming on routes 24, 28 and 44.

Aircraft spotting

The airport has two aircraft spotter locations. There is an observation deck located on the mezzanine level of the passenger terminal building, which gives a relatively unobstructed view of the ramp area and runway 8R and 26L.

An outdoor viewing area on Kraft Avenue north of 52nd Street has picnic tables, litter barrels, and a portable toilet. Radio station 1650 AM broadcasts transmissions by air traffic controllers, pilots, and GFIA operations and ground crew staff. The viewing area is open year-round daily from dawn to dusk.

Planned development

In 2013 the airport began building a natural treatment system to improve stormwater management practices and safeguard the waters of the Thornapple River. The new, innovative system will include a biological treatment system that will improve collection of stormwater runoff and naturally remove sediments and pollutants before sending the water to the Thornapple River, which flows just east of the airfield.

The airport has plans to eliminate the two separate security checkpoints in each concourse and create one larger checkpoint in the grand hall area to help traffic flow much faster and to be prepared for future growth. In addition, the grand hall area and the entrance area to the airport will be renovated along with more shopping and dining options. This is expected to begin in late 2015 and be completed in a few years. Concourse A and B have been recently refurbished and completed in early 2015.

The airport is partnering with the Cascade Community Foundation on plans to renovate the current outdoor viewing area to make it a larger, more inviting place for people to relax.

The airport is building a roof over the parking deck for more close-in, covered long-term parking. The roof will cover most of the fourth floor, though some spaces on the fourth and third floors will remain uncovered. This is due to airfield sight-line requirements for the FAA control tower. The garage roof is expected to be completed in November 2015, with some of the 4th floor spaces being available by mid-August 2015.