^^^
As a West Michigan transplant, I'm thrilled with what Ford airport has been doing. To have a competitive & comparable air travel option within 45 minutes of us, as compared to driving 2+ hours to DTW or O'Hare, at the mercy of interstate roadwork and traffic - is a major advantage for the entire region*. $600 million worth of airport improvements over a few short years is
HUGE. My wife flew out of GRR for spring break to Houston, and it was stupid easy. What Ford is doing and plans to do in the future is a total gamechanger for air travel in our state.
*True, we have our humble little Kalamazoo-Battle Creek airport, with it's 5-6 flights per day, to / from Chicago, Detroit, and Orlando. But while it is convenient, the price is usually exorbitant, and you have to transfer to get pretty much anywhere other than the two cities you could just drive to from here.
Some renderings of the CBIS (Checked Baggage Inspection System) / terminal enhancement project, from the aforementioned groundbreaking -
Source:
flyford.org