Definition
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (ICAO identifier KDTW, IATA code DTW) is a large commercial airport located in Romulus, Michigan, serving the Detroit metropolitan area. It is a major hub for scheduled airline operations and appears in FAA Operations Specifications as an example of a specific airport an operator is authorized to use.
Plain English
It is the main commercial airport for Detroit, Michigan. In this handbook it is just used as a sample airport name in an example of an airline's approved airports list.
Context Anchor
Seen in operations specifications, airport lists, flight planning, dispatch paperwork, and procedure examples where a specific airport must be identified.
Derivation
“Detroit” comes from a French word meaning “strait,” referring to the waterway near the city. “Metro” is short for “metropolitan,” meaning related to a large city area. Together, the name points to the major airport serving the Detroit metropolitan area.
Why Pilots Care
Operations Specifications list the exact airports an operator is authorized to use. A pilot flying for a Part 121 or 135 operator must check that any airport they intend to use, including familiar ones like Detroit Metro, is actually listed in their company's OpSpecs before dispatching there.
Intuition Check
Do not read “Detroit Metro Airport” as a general phrase meaning any airport in the Detroit area. Here it names one specific airport: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, identified as DTW.
Example Sentence 1
The operator's Operations Specifications listed Detroit Metro Airport among the regular destinations approved for scheduled service.
Example Sentence 2
Before filing the flight plan, the dispatcher confirmed Detroit Metro Airport was included in the approved destinations section.