The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a large hub primary commercial service facility.

The following year, the county board of commissioners issued a $2 million bond to fund the purchase of one square mile (2.6 km2) of land at the corner of Middlebelt and Wick roads, the northeastern boundary of today's airport.

[17] The last of Metro's six runways (4L/22R) was completed in December 2001 in preparation for the opening of the mile-long, 122-gate, $1.2 billion McNamara Terminal in the airport midfield in 2002.

In 2009, Detroit Metro Airport launched its first social media efforts with participation in Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube networks.

In April 2011 Lufthansa launched a unique curbside check-in and baggage check service for premium customers from DTW's North Terminal to Frankfurt and beyond.

The city has lost population, but Detroit Metropolitan Airport has since re-grown, and airlines are looking to expand or resume service.

[22] Beginning in January 2018 Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, or SMART Bus, began providing a direct connection from the airport to the Rosa Parks Transit Center in downtown Detroit via route 261, also known as the Michigan Ave FAST bus, with stations at both the McNamara and Evans terminals.

[24] Spirit was also the first airline to regularly fly the A320neo in the US, the first route was Detroit to Los Angeles as well as add self-tagging luggage kiosks at DTW.

In March 2019, the airline ceased operations, leaving Metro Airport with no low-cost nonstop to Europe; the airport looked for replacement service to begin in 2020, but due to the COVID pandemic, that effort ceased until 2022, when Icelandair and Delta announced seasonal flights to Reykjavík starting in 2023.

Additionally, overnight guests at the hotel who are not flying can obtain a pass to enter the concourses to visit shops and restaurants.

[citation needed] Signage through the terminal is in English, along with Japanese, due to a large number of business travelers from Japan.

[36] Also, messages reminding travelers to configure watches to the Eastern Time Zone regularly broadcast through the public address system are said in English, Japanese, and Mandarin.

The Customs and Border Protection processing center located in the terminal's lower level is designed to accommodate as many as 3,200 passengers per hour.

The light patterns are synchronized with an original musical score composed by Victor Alexeeff,[38] which runs for nearly 30 minutes before repeating.

This installation, one of the first large-scale uses of color-changing LED lighting in the United States, was produced by Mills James Productions with glasswork by Foxfire Glass Works of Pontiac, Michigan.

For passengers prone to medical conditions such as seizures, buttons at each end of the tunnel will suspend the light show for five minutes so they can pass through with no adverse effects.

The two gates were unusable at the building's opening because they were extremely close to Smith Terminal's C concourse, which was demolished after operations moved to the new facility.

Airlines that utilize the North Terminal include Air Canada, Alaska, American, American Eagle, Frontier, Icelandair, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Royal Jordanian, Southwest, Spirit, Sun Country, Turkish, United, United Express, and all non-SkyTeam and non-Delta partner charters.

The terminal also has U.S. Customs & Border Protection inspection facilities located on the lower level for arriving international flights.

Originally containing six gates (two of which were removed in 2003 to allow for construction of an adjacent Northwest Airlines maintenance hangar), the terminal was later used for scheduled and charter flights.

To accommodate additional airlines, ticketing counters were constructed on the sides of the lobby in areas that previously held lounges and retail.

On September 10, 2008, The Detroit News reported that Smith Terminal itself will not be demolished due to the airport authority offices remaining on the upper floors.

However, the Detroit Free Press of October 9, 2008, stated that maintaining the terminal in its present condition would cost upwards of $4 million annually in utilities, a sore spot for airlines at DTW who foot the bill, in part, through airport landing fees; the airlines were hoping for a greater cost savings once the Smith and Berry Terminals were decommissioned.

The spaces between the roof panels and exterior columns were filled with glass to allow abundant natural light into the building.

[14] In the early 1980s, a separate ticketing area was constructed to the north of the Davey Terminal, along with Concourses F and G to eventually accommodate Northwest Airlines' regional jet fleet.

Over time, the terminal and added concourse began showing its age due to its layout and poor maintenance, hastened further by increased aircraft traffic, which it was not designed to handle efficiently.

Rental car companies provide their own shuttles, as do private offsite parking lots and most hotels in the airport's vicinity.

[56] Transit to Ann Arbor, Brighton, and East Lansing is available with the Michigan Flyer, an intercity bus operated by Indian Trails in partnership with TheRide.

[57] Service to destinations in southern Ontario, Canada, including Windsor and London, is offered by Robert Q Airbus, a private operator.

[58] Transit buses board from the Ground Transportation Center at the Evans Terminal, and from the departures drop-off area at McNamara.