OFFICIAL - New KCI Terminal

Transportation topics in KC
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KCPowercat
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by KCPowercat »

One nugget I found that is both exciting and disappointing is that 2 airline clubs are planned for the future above the retail nodes.

I don't know if "future" means they are still possible for the first phase if a tenant is found or not.
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GRID
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by GRID »

Because this set up very similar to BWI, I wonder if they will do like they do at BWI and run the official airport parking and car rental buses (as well as official city taxi cabs) on the curb at a couple of dedicated stops and have all other transit buses like hotels etc and urbers go to the lanes further away inside the garage.

It's nice stepping outside the terminal having the rental car and parking lot shuttles right there.

Either way, it will be a drastic improvement. It's a real pain at KCI now to catch a car rental bus. First off you have to drag your luggage across lanes of traffic to a tiny and narrow island between the lanes and wait for a bus that is picking up "and" dropping off passengers (which is a mess for dozens of people with luggage).

I can't wait for the new terminal.
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KCPowercat
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by KCPowercat »

Good questions. I could see all buses including satellite and rental car going into the garage. All Uber pickups and drop offs bring in the valet lane.
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by normalthings »

KCPowercat wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 12:47 pm I don't know if "future" means they are still possible for the first phase if a tenant is found or not.
Yes
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by KCPowercat »

normalthings wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 1:22 am
KCPowercat wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 12:47 pm I don't know if "future" means they are still possible for the first phase if a tenant is found or not.
Yes
Seems smarter to just build the space now even if they sit empty but that's good news..
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by herrfrank »

KCPowercat wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 12:47 pm One nugget I found that is both exciting and disappointing is that 2 airline clubs are planned for the future above the retail nodes.

I don't know if "future" means they are still possible for the first phase if a tenant is found or not.
The airport authority may be thinking wishfully about AA and DL. They both have a club history with KC.

KC had an Admirals Club (American Airlines) for decades until 2012. When AA was in terminal A, it was located, per the 1980s "House Rules" booklet I was given when joining, at the "Mezzanine Level, above Gate 14." (All of the upstairs areas at KCI were outside of security). I spent many hours in that club in the 1990s waiting on prairie snowstorms, during my annual Christmas visits. The club was cozy and usually empty. Lots of beige, even the fax machine was beige.

When AA moved to terminal C after 9-11, the large room behind gate 79 was renovated into the Admirals Club. Lots of wood decor, full bar, and one helpful agent at a small desk (premium access to ticketing and other AA systems is IMHO the primary benefit). That location in turn was closed in 2012, and the room was made into "open seating" for the public. Then in 2017, the upper C complex was renovated and connected, and the club room was lost, approximately behind where the security screening is today.

Delta Air Lines also has a club history in KC -- they used to have a city ticket office (remember those?) in Crown Center. Once, in the early 1990s, I was at the CTO doing some kind of upgrade or change, and the agent told me that Delta's number one flyer, with something like 25 million miles, lived in KC. For reference, I've flown 3 million with AA, and I (still) fly four times per week.

The Kansas City Sky Club closed in 2008. It was above gates 57-58, accessible by the elevator and stairway (that lead to its replacement, the Top of the Crown grill). It was opened (as a "Crown Room Club") back in the 1990s, I believe as a condition of the corporate travel contract DL had with Sprint.
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KCPowercat
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by KCPowercat »

Probably best case is a generic club at this point but I say build out both spaces now as spec. It can't cost that much additional.
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by WoodDraw »

I thought the original plan was for a USO lounge and a generic lounge? I can understand waiting to design these out though if they have hopes to drawing a specific one or two.
Last edited by WoodDraw on Wed Oct 09, 2019 11:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by normalthings »

WoodDraw wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 10:58 am I thought the original plan was for a USO lounge and a generic lounge? I can understand waiting to design these out thought if they have hopes to drawing a specific one or two.
I think the USO is still happening.
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by KCPowercat »

USO is in place in arrivals level by baggage claim
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by langosta »

Image
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by bspecht »

Taken on Tue.

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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by TheLastGentleman »

Like a nuke went off
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by flyingember »

Piece on foundation work

https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/fo ... al-project
More than 2,000 pillars, some as deep as 80 feet below ground, will make up the foundation.

...

The deep foundation work is expected to be completed by early spring. The goal remains for the new terminal to open to passengers in early 2023, shortly before Kansas City hosts the 2023 NFL Draft.
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by gfenn11 »

Quick question- why doesn't the airport use larger buses for the economy lots? Tonight was a complete cluster with a few planes landing right around midnight- I had to wait with around 60+ others for almost 30 minutes curbside for us to see our blue bus appear (only to leave all the other stops waiting on buses). There's these empty large buses running to/from the rental car facility at least every 10 minutes, while we are forced into these tiny buses that are seemingly always full. What gives?
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by DaveKCMO »

gfenn11 wrote: Mon Oct 21, 2019 3:52 am Quick question- why doesn't the airport use larger buses for the economy lots? Tonight was a complete cluster with a few planes landing right around midnight- I had to wait with around 60+ others for almost 30 minutes curbside for us to see our blue bus appear (only to leave all the other stops waiting on buses). There's these empty large buses running to/from the rental car facility at least every 10 minutes, while we are forced into these tiny buses that are seemingly always full. What gives?
A larger (40') bus cannot navigate the inner ring of the terminals. That's one reason why RideKC buses and rental car shuttles are relegated to the outer ring.
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by horizons82 »

DaveKCMO wrote: Mon Oct 21, 2019 7:24 am A larger (40') bus cannot navigate the inner ring of the terminals. That's one reason why RideKC buses and rental car shuttles are relegated to the outer ring.
Why can't they navigate the inner ring? Vertical clearance? Traffic level?
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by normalthings »

horizons82 wrote: Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:38 am
DaveKCMO wrote: Mon Oct 21, 2019 7:24 am A larger (40') bus cannot navigate the inner ring of the terminals. That's one reason why RideKC buses and rental car shuttles are relegated to the outer ring.
Why can't they navigate the inner ring? Vertical clearance? Traffic level?
I am pretty sure that the CONRAC buses use the inner commercial curbs.
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by flyingember »

The word "navigate" is key there.

I'm certain a 40 foot city bus could fit just fine, but it would have troubles with the actual environment. An infrequent bus entering the ring is different than trying to hit a schedule every 15-30 minutes with the mess that is the terminal traffic today
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Re: We are getting a new airport!!!

Post by KCPowercat »

just another example of our inconvient airport that people just accept as okay and will be surprised how much better the new terminal works.

although my guess is there will be whining about having to walk across the arrivals car lanes to get to the buses.
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