KCRag Forum

Sorry didn't mean to be dismissive to you just not sure a newspaper columnist trying to draw some weird dick measuring competition between Omaha and kci flight operations does much for me.

It didn't even seem to be addressing city discussions of the MOU....it's just the natural problem with having this controlled by the city vs a governing body.

The Omaha airport has to rely on the money it makes from landing fees and other revenue, which officials say makes it run like a business

Which is the same way every other airport in the US is run, including KCI.

though some people who opposed the expansion have said they wonder whether taxpayers will eventually foot part of the bill.

They won't and they can't. This has no base in reality and is the type of Fake News groups like CFRG try to use to sway voters.

This article is entirely a "dick measuring contest".

Yeah those parts stood out too....

Omaha's strategy seems good to me. Sounds very much like Charlotte's approach which has resulted in an eco-devo powerhouse for the region. KC could learn.
More or less on the subject, I think Van Loh is a hero. I know many thought he was an arrogant, heavy-handed ass (or something like that) but would KC have a new airport on the way without his initiative? From my observations, he took the reins and tried to run the airport like a professional business instead of as political football. He should get a lounge named after him.

It's really no different from how KCI is run. The article just tries to make them sound superior

ldai_phs wrote:It's really no different from how KCI is run. The article just tries to make them sound superior

Yea, I agree. Any airport that has or can have access to incentives will use them in a heartbeat, in order to complement the data. Some airports have more to offer up than others but is a critical part of the air service development game, especially if the numbers don't fully support a particular route (MCI-KEF, for example).

The incentives are to market KC as well....so helps bring icelanders to KC.

Personally preferring going through security in the eu, or in icelands case a shengen state. I could see how it would make mainland Europeans more likely to visit as well

We could also market it as being a less intimidating customs airport. For example if Boston and Atlanta are the same price I would much rather go through boston

missingkc wrote: More or less on the subject, I think Van Loh is a hero. I know many thought he was an arrogant, heavy-handed ass (or something like that) but would KC have a new airport on the way without his initiative? From my observations, he took the reins and tried to run the airport like a professional business instead of as political football. He should get a lounge named after him.

Ditto. He saw the issues with KCI and batted his head against a wall trying to convince an insular populace that the airport was hopelessly obsolete. Entrenchment groups like CFRG and save KCI made his task far more difficult than it should have been. In the end, looks like he did a pretty good job making his point.

Omaha see KC as there rival. KC sees St. Louis. St. Louis -> Chicago -> New York

and so on.

You aren't really describing rivals though....more like equals that aren't really equal...and in that case I'd hope we would be comparing ourselves tonliek a Denver....not stl

KCPowercat wrote:You aren't really describing rivals though....more like equals that aren't really equal...and in that case I'd hope we would be comparing ourselves tonliek a Denver....not stl

i mean, we have a non-downtown studiogang tower in pre-construction site prep as of today...you really think st. louis is vastly behind kc? but i understand what you are saying.

but to the non-point...i don't really think people in st. louis consider chicago a "rival" in anything other than sports. we mainly use the chicago comparison to beat up on ourselves or to be glib about winter weather.

I don’t think he’s saying that he thinks KC is ahead of STL. I think instead he is saying we should look up to our successful cousin, not our struggling sister.

ldai_phs wrote:I don’t think he’s saying that he thinks KC is ahead of STL. I think instead he is saying we should look up to our successful cousin, not our struggling sister.

i sort of edited my post once i grasped that. just had a lumbar injection (slipped disc) and am a bit out of sorts. :

also, i prefer that we be your drunk uncle...

everyone carry on...

minneapolis is probably a better comparison. denver is on a much more radical path than anything i’ve seen in the midwest and is changing by the month.

I wouldn't call STL a "struggling sister" unless you really feel that KC is better off - there's a lot of big projects in STL's central cooridor that I wish we had going on in KC. There seems to be way more activity there.

As for Kansas City Airport...

I don’t really know what’s going on in St. Louis outside somehow the metro lost people last year while the KC metro had a nice increase to a net 20,000 growth (about 5k more than recent years). I know St. Louis is larger, but don’t know how much more construction they have going than KC. I’m pleased with the overall activity in KC. My biggest complaint is we haven’t gotten the major corporations to build new office downtown, but there’s lots of other things to like.

STL Metro did not lose population. You are misinformed. The growth was slower but not negative.

Back to KC Airport. The 2017 statistics are out. Here they are:
[it should be noted that in 2017 New Orleans and Raleigh have passed Kansas City in passengers and growth and we had the lowest percentage growth]
(2017 final passengers)

St. Louis STL: 14,730,656 (up 5.5%)
Nashville BNA: 14.1 million (up 8.9%)
Austin AUS: 13.8 million (up 11.5%)
New Orleans MSY: 12 million (up 9%)*
Raleigh/Durham RDU: 11.6 million (up 5.6%)
Kansas City MCI: 11.5 million (up 4.5%)
Cleveland CLE: 9.14 million (up 8.5%)**
Pittsburgh PIT: 8.9 million (up 8.9%)
Indianapolis IND: 8.77 million (up 6.2%)
Cincinnati 7.8 CVG: 7.8 million (up 16%)***

*note: MSY say 20 new destinations added in 2017, the largest increase in service since Katrina. The airport added 2 international destinations in 2017.
**note: CLE has first increase since loss of United Hub causing plunge in 2014/2015 with new carriers and additional seats/destinations.
**note: CVG came off of 2015/2016 loss of Delta Hub causing high increase with new carriers and additional seats/destinations.

[above reposted from another site]

what's the link to that data? Weird they listed the STL number so detailed and all the other airports rounded to the 10th of a million.