Gerald R. Ford International Airport is a commercial airport in
Cascade Township approximately southeast of
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...
, United States. The facility is owned by the
Kent County Board of Commissioners and managed by an independent authority. The
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
(FAA)
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...
for 2017–2021
categorized it as a small hub primary commercial service facility.
The facility opened as the Kent County Airport and later became Kent County International Airport. In December 1999, the airport was renamed for
Gerald R. Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
, the 40th Vice President and the 38th President of the United States. Ford represented the Grand Rapids area in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
from 1949 to 1973.
The airport is the largest commercial airport in the
West Michigan
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pe ...
region and is the second-largest airport in Michigan after
Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport , usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport, or simply DTW, is a major international airport in the United States covering effective December 30, 2021. in Romulus, Michigan. It is the primar ...
. GRR covers .
The airport currently has flights to 37 domestic airports.
History
Grand Rapids' first airport broke ground in November 1919, south of downtown. This was eight years after the area witnessed its first landing, a Wright
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
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
Dearborn on a Ford-Stout monoplane named ''Miss Grand Rapids'', which started July 26, 1926.
In 1938–39, the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
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 extended between 32nd and 36th Streets, from Jefferson Avenue east to the railroad; the west end was soon expanded south to just north of Himes Street and in the 1950s runway 18/36 was extended to 5700’ and reached south to 44th Street.
In 1959, the county began construction on the present airport in
Cascade Township, several miles east of the first airport. The new airport opened November 23, 1963, and was dedicated June 6, 1964; it had a runway designated 08/26 and a designated 18/36.
The first scheduled jet was a
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
737-200
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...
on April 28, 1968, from
Chicago O'Hare
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Loop busine ...
. The aircraft, N9003U, was named 'City of Grand Rapids'. In 1968, the only scheduled non-stops beyond Michigan were to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and
Green Bay.
On January 27, 1977, the Board of Commissioners renamed Kent County Airport as Kent County International Airport with the opening of a
U.S. Customs
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted ...
Service Office in the main terminal building.
In 1997, the board added the runway 17/35 to allow continued operations during a $32 million reconstruction of runway 8R/26L, completed in 2001. It completed a passenger terminal renovation in 2000 at a cost of approximately $50 million.
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, a U.S. Air Force jet carried the remains of former president
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
to his namesake airport as part of funeral services culminating in burial at his
presidential museum in Grand Rapids the next day.
From April 2010 through October 2011, the airport was a
focus city
An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the ...
for
Allegiant Air
Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America.
Allegiant was founded in 1 ...
.
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...
operated the airport's only international flights to
Toronto Pearson International Airport
Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surro ...
from July 2008 until September 2013. It was the airline's second attempt at service between the two markets.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...
operates Boeing 757-200s seasonally between Grand Rapids and Detroit during the summer, making it the largest aircraft to serve GRR.
Allegiant Air announced in mid-January 2019 that they would be making the airport one of Allegiant's 16 focus cities once again. After dropping GRR as a focus city in 2011, Allegiant is upgrading GRR again to a focus city adding Nashville, Tennessee, and Savannah-Hilton Head, Georgia, as new routes.
Facilities
Gerald R. Ford International Airport has two parallel east–west runways and one north–south runway. Along with cargo and
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
facilities, the airport has a passenger terminal with two concourses: A has seven gates and B has eight.
Runways 08R/26L and runway 17/35 have
ILS. The airport also has a general aviation runway north of the main 08R/26L runway.
In September 2017, the airport celebrated the opening of phase one of their Gateway Transformation, a 59,000 square foot addition onto the passenger terminal facility that included a consolidated passenger security screening checkpoint, a new Marketplace with expanded retail and food & beverage offerings, new business centers and lounges, and much more. Concourse A's tenants are Allegiant Air, Delta Air Lines and
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...
.
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
,
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...
and United Airlines occupy Concourse B.
All gates have climate-controlled
jetways
A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...
.
The airport is served by
Signature Flight Support
Signature Aviation is a British multinational aviation services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
The company has been known by numerous names over the years, having been founded as ''W. Wilson Cobbett Ltd'' in 1879; it was ren ...
, which operates an
FBO on the field. Besides fuel, the facility provides
general maintenance, aircraft parking, courtesy and rental cars, conference rooms, pilot supplies, a crew lounge, snooze rooms, and more.
When new baggage screening regulations were introduced by the
Transportation Security Administration
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...
in 2002, the airport was 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
Passenger
Source:
Cargo
Source: Flight Aware
[Gerald R. Ford International Airport Flight Tracker]
Flight Aware
Statistics
Top domestic destinations
Airline market share
Annual traffic
Ground transportation
The airport is at the intersection of 44th Street and Patterson Avenue. It abuts
I-96
Interstate 96 (I-96) is an east–west Interstate Highway that runs for approximately entirely within the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 (US 31) and Bu ...
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
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
/
Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Ant ...
rental car companies on-site.
Rapid
Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.
Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...
route 17, Woodland/Airport, travels between the airport and
Woodland Mall
Woodland Mall is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall located in Kentwood, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids. It comprises over 100 tenants in of retail space, with three anchor stores (Macy's, JCPenney, and Von Maur), along with Barnes & N ...
(Kentwood Station) on weekdays between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. 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.
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 eliminated the two separate security checkpoints in each concourse and created one consolidated 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 was renovated with more shopping and dining options. Work began in late 2015 and completed in June 2017.
Concourse A and B were recently refurbished and completed in early 2015.
The airport began construction of a roof over the parking deck in March 2015 to increase close-in, covered, long-term parking. The roof covers most of the fourth floor, though some spaces on the fourth and third floors remain uncovered due to airfield sight-line requirements for the FAA control tower. The garage roof was completed in November 2015 and will allow use of the fourth floor spaces during heavy snow.
In 2016, the airport partnered 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 renovated park opened in May 2017.
In November 2018 the airport began the phase II of the Gateway Transformation Project, reconstructing the baggage claim, check-in, and front of house areas, and have completed the apron reconstruction adding new pavement to the apron and taxiway areas.
In late August 2019, the airport made an announcement about its next focus, Project Elevate. This phase of airport development, consisting of three major projects, includes a $90 million expansion and extension of Concourse A to encompass 8 more gates, a $50 million relocation and construction of a new air traffic control tower as well as a $25 million federal inspection station to facilitate departures and arrivals of direct international flights.
Accidents & Incidents
*On May 9, 2008, a
Cessna 208 Caravan
The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna.
The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982.
The production model was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA ...
operating for
Federal Express
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
by
CSA Air
CSA Air is a cargo airline based in Kingsford, Michigan, United States. It operates express cargo services in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and South Dakota, operating 34 flights a day. Its main base is Ford Airport in Iron Mountain, Michigan a ...
crashed just north of Grand Rapids. The pilot was injured.
*On September 6, 2010, a Cessna 210 Centurion that departed from Grand Rapids made an emergency landing in a field due to an engine failure. The aircraft was on a training flight at the time of impact. The probable cause of the accident was found to be a fatigue failure of the crankshaft due to the loss of engine case through-bold torque.
*On October 29, 2012, a
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...
McDonnell Douglas MD-88
The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gene ...
diverted to the airport after an engine issue. The engine was shut off and the plane was able to land safely.
*On January 9, 2022, an aircraft returned to the airport due to a
landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
problem. It landed safely back at the airport.
*On July 8, 2022, an
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
flight en route from
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
to
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
diverted to Grand Rapids due to smoke in the cockpit. The plane landed safely and there were no injuries.
References
External links
*
Michigan Bureau of Aeronautics*
*
{{Authority control
Transportation in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Airports in Michigan
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
Economy of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Transportation buildings and structures in Kent County, Michigan
Works Progress Administration in Michigan