GR airport looking to replace tower

Due to increased air traffic, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport is currently working on six different projects with a collective price tag of $600 million.

Last year, the airport broke its passenger record of almost 3.8 million travelers. Now, a new air-traffic-control tower is being designed to help manage the surge in flyers, which so far this year, is up 17 percent from 2023.

The current, 60-year-old tower is located on top of the terminal building, prohibiting additional development on the airport’s campus due to line-of-sight issues, Abbas said.

On May 22nd, Michigan Senate members passed a resolution urging the U.S. Congress fund construction of the new tower.

The airport hopes to have the tower design phase finished by the end of the year, with construction scheduled to begin in 2025, Abbas said.