Press Release - July 16, 2026

Detroit, MI —​ The Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) announced yesterday it is scrapping its proposal to open an indoor cigar lounge at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), marking a major victory for airport workers and the millions of travelers who pass through the facility each year.

The cancellation of the Request for Proposals (RFP) was announced during yesterday’s Board of Directors meeting, following months of intense pushback from a broad coalition of health organizations, workers’ rights advocates, and local residents.

“It doesn’t matter if you put a high price tag on it or put it in a fancy wrapper, sit in a fancy chair and drink a fancy drink — secondhand smoke from cigars and even third hand smoke off-gassing WILL cause harm to your employees,” wrote Onjewel Smith, consultant for Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) in testimony prepared for yesterday’s meeting. “Since Detroit metro is home to a large Black and immigrant population, it is likely that airport workers represent these communities and will be put in harm’s way, doubling down on existing social determinants of health. No worker should be put in harm’s way, no worker should have to sign a waiver, forfeit their rights, or agree to be harmed by a known toxic chemical in order to earn a living and to provide for their families.”

“The airport authority’s decision yesterday is undeniably a massive victory for clean air and worker safety,” said Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. “After almost two years of public health and workers’ rights advocates continually submitting comments and testimony to keep the airport smokefree, the WCAA has finally heeded our warnings and accepted that reintroducing smoking into the airport would be detrimental to public health as well as the airport’s business. The WCAA must make this cancellation permanent rather than leaving the door open to reviving a concept that threatens the health of millions of travelers and airport employees.”

Airport officials publicly cited economic uncertainty following the recent closure of Spirit Airlines as the primary driver for dropping the project. Public health advocates note the business risks of opening a cigar lounge in the airport is demonstrated by the overwhelming community resistance to the proposal. A recent statewide poll conducted by EPIC-MRA revealed that 77 percent of Michigan residents fiercely opposed the indoor smoking concept, while a grassroots petition garnered nearly 1,500 signatures from citizens demanding the airport remain entirely smokefree.

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Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is a member-supported, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for 50 years, since 1976, to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANR has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANR aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://nonsmokersrights.org and https://smokefreecasinos.org.