OFFICIAL - New KCI Terminal

[KCPowercat]

I think we can all see from the design ours is as bare bones as it gets.

Product of the costs us money fearmongering and the likes of Loar and Hall having way too big of a voice in a regional asset

[SingleMalt12]

Here's an outsider's opinion.

I live in Detroit, am originally from Omaha and visit Kansas City on an infrequent basis. Here's how I see a new KC airport.

The current one is a gimmick that was planned and opened pre 911 and had zero chance of succeeding post 911.

When our kids were little, in 2004, we drove down from Omaha because Midwest Airlines had non stops to Ft. Lauderdale, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. When we arrived at the airport a blizzard had blown in and our morning flight was cancelled. We were stuck in KCI from 8AM to 3:30PM. Let's be honest. KCI is not my first choice to have to entertain young kids for hours. We rode the shuttle to each terminal. That was about it. There was nothing else to do.

Last time I flew into KCI was last fall with my son. Uneventful. Busy but not as busy as Detroit Metro. No big deal. We flew in, rented a car, stayed a few days & flew home. Check in and security lines weren't bad. Ok. No big deal.

To me, as an outsider, a new airport will be more efficient than the current one. I doubt that a visitor to KC will get excited by any new KC airport. We just want to arrive and get to wherever in KC we want to go. Amenities? Sure. BBQ at the airport? Great. No BBQ at the airport? No problem. I'll go to where it is. I think the new KCI will look and act like pretty much any other airport in a city the size of KCI that isn't a major hub. AND that's fine with me.

Get it done. Open it. Don't lose sleep if the windows aren't as high as you'd like or there isn't a fountain out front. Make it clean. Have lots of women's bathrooms. Have lots of men's bathrooms. Have some food. That's about it. I and lots of other visitors will like it just fine.

[chrizow]

I fly pretty frequently and agree that, while it would be cool to have an iconic or beautiful airport, in the absence of unlimited funds functional is all that really matters.

I cannot think of an airport I have ever been to which really "impressed" me and felt like a great place to kill several hours. If anything, you only really notice the "bad" airports--the "good" airports simply do what they are supposed to do. I want the most flight options possible, a couple decent food/drinking options open during reasonable business hours, and I am good.

Honestly--what are the "gold standard" airports out there in terms of experience and functionality? Am I missing something?

[KCPowercat]

Well on its way.

To clarify current kci was also designed before any airport security screening was in place and the day it opened a hijacking happened that changed airport security most drastically up until 911.

[SingleMalt12]

I fly pretty frequently and agree that, while it would be cool to have an iconic or beautiful airport, in the absence of unlimited funds functional is all that really matters.

I cannot think of an airport I have ever been to which really "impressed" me and felt like a great place to kill several hours. If anything, you only really notice the "bad" airports--the "good" airports simply do what they are supposed to do. I want the most flight options possible, a couple decent food/drinking options open during reasonable business hours, and I am good.

Honestly--what are the "gold standard" airports out there in terms of experience and functionality? Am I missing something?

You aren't. Been to Vegas lately? A zoo. Atlanta? Likewise. But who are KCI's peers? Indy? Columbus? RDU? Any of those make you sing? Doesn't matter. Here in Detroit the airport has 129 gates and about 600 flights a day to a ton of cities with a lot of choices & it's relatively new. Nobody cares what it looks like. They just want to get in and out.

What KC should be after are destinations, frequency and cost. An efficient airport could entice airlines to add destinations. Easier connections. Competition. Oh, and BBQ too.

[flyingember]

I cannot think of an airport I have ever been to which really "impressed" me and felt like a great place to kill several hours.

Honestly--what are the "gold standard" airports out there in terms of experience and functionality? Am I missing something?

The gold standard is doing everything a little bit better. Take the bin sizes. At KCI a laptop fills a bin, in Atlanta they were larger and I could put two laptops in one if I had needed to.

Their entry road is covered with a giant roof. Ours today has crosswalks that don’t line up with the circle drive median islands or the doors.

Do that kind of small change everything and it’s a good airport.

Once we have that it will drive demand to come to KCI. Right now we don’t do anything as good as too many airports.

[kcjak]

The only american airport that really wow-ed me is the expansion/renovation at IAH a few years ago (and to a lesser extent the international terminal at EWR), but it wasn't really about the building itself, it was the amenities like being able to order food from numerous restaurants using a free table anywhere on the concourse. USB ports, chargers and places to hang backpacks and purses at every seat. Not needing to hang out at a specified gate because you can get flight updates on the tablet (or easily on your own device). Lighting and music that feels like a swanky lounge. Big, CLEAN restrooms with changing stations in the men's room.

I would rather the airport spend some money on amenities inside - and be able to keep them up as times change.

[smh]

I fly pretty frequently and agree that, while it would be cool to have an iconic or beautiful airport, in the absence of unlimited funds functional is all that really matters.

I cannot think of an airport I have ever been to which really "impressed" me and felt like a great place to kill several hours. If anything, you only really notice the "bad" airports--the "good" airports simply do what they are supposed to do. I want the most flight options possible, a couple decent food/drinking options open during reasonable business hours, and I am good.

Honestly--what are the "gold standard" airports out there in terms of experience and functionality? Am I missing something?

You aren't. Been to Vegas lately? A zoo. Atlanta? Likewise. But who are KCI's peers? Indy? Columbus? RDU? Any of those make you sing? Doesn't matter. Here in Detroit the airport has 129 gates and about 600 flights a day to a ton of cities with a lot of choices & it's relatively new. Nobody cares what it looks like. They just want to get in and out.

What KC should be after are destinations, frequency and cost. An efficient airport could entice airlines to add destinations. Easier connections. Competition. Oh, and BBQ too.

Interesting you mention Detroit being your home airport. I flew through there for the first time a month or so ago and was honestly a little wowed. The terminal was very attractive. Not saying we should aim for that, but it's funny because I haven't been "wowed" in a while but somehow Detroit wowed me.

[KCPowercat]

I'm always impressed with the sheer length of that terminal and I'm no size queen.

[beautyfromashes]

The only american airport that really wow-ed me is the expansion/renovation at IAH a few years ago (and to a lesser extent the international terminal at EWR)...

Those were the first two that I thought of as well. SFO is also very nice. All the others are fairly similar and unrememberable. AMS is probably my favorite international. I remember Barcelona being nice as well.

[Steve52]

Get it done. Open it. Don't lose sleep if the windows aren't as high as you'd like or there isn't a fountain out front. Make it clean. Have lots of women's bathrooms. Have lots of men's bathrooms. Have some food. That's about it. I and lots of other visitors will like it just fine.

KC needs to overcome it's inferiority complex before we can become that practical and inventive.

[SingleMalt12]

Interesting you mention Detroit being your home airport. I flew through there for the first time a month or so ago and was honestly a little wowed. The terminal was very attractive. Not saying we should aim for that, but it's funny because I haven't been "wowed" in a while but somehow Detroit wowed me.

You were in the Delta terminal. There is also the North Terminal which houses most of the non Delta carriers. It's got about 32 gates and is pretty bland.

The Delta terminal is nice and actually has a tram running end to end inside. I never really thought it wowed me but yeah it's pretty nice. What you may not have noticed was the relative lack of anyone actually saying wow.

Again, windows, bathrooms, food, flights, destinations, cost. I suppose a fountain would be nice since KC has lots of them.

Want to see a nice airport? Check out OKC. Nice looks & some interesting amenities. They do something KC should do. Live music.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Want to see a nice airport? Check out OKC. Nice looks & some interesting amenities. They do something KC should do. Live music.

I can attest to that, flew out of there earlier last year heading back to Italy, and I was impressed to see that they didn’t over build when they initially re-did their terminal, so they had enough reserve cash to add an expansion of 4 gates when the traffic demanded it. I also loved the fact that they had subterranean parking instead of a monstrosity of a garage directly across the street. Oh, and not to mention walkways underneath the roadway as well so you didn’t have to cross traffic if you didn’t want to.

[flyingember]

Oh, and not to mention walkways underneath the roadway as well so you didn’t have to cross traffic if you didn’t want to.

They needed tornado shelters. KCI uses the underground walkways for the same thing.

[KCPowercat]

KC already does live music.

[smh]

KC already does live music.

Wait, really?

[smh]

The other unsung hero here is LUV. While it isn't sexy necessarily, it looks nice, functions well and is a pleasant place to spend a little time while connecting.

[mean]

The newish LUV is a big improvement over the previous iteration, agreed. Assuming you mean DAL.

[smh]

The newish LUV is a big improvement over the previous iteration, agreed. Assuming you mean DAL.

Yes, yes of course. Damn SW marketing.

[KCPowercat]

KC already does live music.

Wait, really?

Baggage claim of B . Super annoying