We need a new airport!!!

[KCPowercat]

Well we are going to have to spend some money on the airport whether its major rehabs or new terminal....they didn't say they were against all new terminals...they are just protecting their profit margin at this point.

Yeah, I'm not against a new terminal. I don't love MCI, or find it convenient. It's just a big price tag for what they're selling.

I'd agree with you.

[mean]

...and it's a particularly big price tag to possibly piss off the airlines. I'm glad they're getting involved.

[shinatoo]

Why is 1.5 Billion too much when we spent a third of that to REMODEL two sports stadiums? Lot more use and benefit from that 1.5 billion.

[KCPowercat]

...and it's a particularly big price tag to possibly piss off the airlines. I'm glad they're getting involved.

Well I mean it's not like they are all going to abandon KCI because their PFCs went up a dollar.

[grovester]

They want a new terminal, they don't want to pay for it.

[aknowledgeableperson]

They don't want to pay TOO much for it.

[knucklehead]

A lot of talk, but no conceptual design.

Hard to evaluate without any specifics at all.

[chingon]

Why is 1.5 Billion too much when we spent a third of that to REMODEL two sports stadiums? Lot more use and benefit from that 1.5 billion.

I voted against that bullshit, so don't ask me.

[mykem]

Here is a very detailed 350 page plan of what the proposed new terminal will look like with elevations, passenger numbers, and etc. There are even a couple of alternative concepts to the main terminal itself starting in the 230s.
http://www.flykci.com/_FileLibrary/File ... 20size.pdf

[shaffe]

Not a single mention of rail or train possibilities. Not even a plan of how it could possibly be retrofitted in.

I am disappointed, but not surprised.

[herrfrank]

Well, this is the final proposal, it seems. I was hoping there would be multiple alternatives explored, but it looks like quite a bit of engineering and planning has already been committed to this particular proposal.

My immediate reaction: this plan focuses on (federal) security consolidation and on (city) revenue growth (parking and concessions) much more than passenger speed and efficiency.

It kind of reminds me of one of the arguments to demolish beautiful Central High School and build a proto-prison encampment (ahem, "classical" learning pavilion) in its place, because "the roof leaked."

I'm still in the NO corner. I'm willing to entertain modifications to the existing terminals, including rail connections, etc. But a big box terminal like the proposal means a significantly less convenient airport and a slower travel experience.

[mean]

According to that document, two thirds of travelers departing from KCI were leaving on nonstop flights. So much for the theory that we're dramatically underserved to anywhere without having to make a connection.

[KCPowercat]

According to that document, two thirds of travelers departing from KCI were leaving on nonstop flights. So much for the theory that we're dramatically underserved to anywhere without having to make a connection.

W/o knowing stats of other similar sized cities airports, not sure what conclusion can be drawn.

[missingkc]

La Guardia looking at a 3.6 billion renovation.

[mean]

According to that document, two thirds of travelers departing from KCI were leaving on nonstop flights. So much for the theory that we're dramatically underserved to anywhere without having to make a connection.

W/o knowing stats of other similar sized cities airports, not sure what conclusion can be drawn.

Doesn't really matter imo. If a sizable majority of customers are being served w/o connections, it doesn't really matter to me what's happening in other cities.

[KCPowercat]

According to that document, two thirds of travelers departing from KCI were leaving on nonstop flights. So much for the theory that we're dramatically underserved to anywhere without having to make a connection.

W/o knowing stats of other similar sized cities airports, not sure what conclusion can be drawn.

Doesn't really matter imo. If a sizable majority of customers are being served w/o connections, it doesn't really matter to me what's happening in other cities.

Customer base could get bigger though...customers have been stolen by some surrounding smaller cities. Sure we have directs to the biggest cities that people fly to most but I'm sure you've noticed as I have, that it's much harder today to find a direct than it was even 5 years ago....less competition which I guess partly has to do with airlines consolidating.

I'm surprised the number of customers using directs is that high....in the flights I've taken in the past year, 1 out of 5 domestic was directly to my destination...that was to Vegas. Detroit, Austin, Philly, and Orlando all had connections. I could have found a direct but not the time/price that worked.

[chingon]

I loved the table of where in the region actual passengers (not license plates in the parking lot, Yael) come from:

62% Jackson, Clay, Platte

35% from Johnson, Wyandotte

3% North of KCI

[knucklehead]

Gosh, ya think Yael will point out how misrepresentative the results of the Star's vehicle survey were?

My guess is he is very pleased with the misinformation he distributed.

[chingon]

Gosh, ya think Yael will point out how misrepresentative the results of the Star's vehicle survey were?

My guess is he is very pleased with the misinformation he distributed.

Tweet him an ask. Apparently that, and sophomoric sports commentary, is his job now.

[herrfrank]

This past weekend I had the opportunity to contrast directly the Baltimore airport (BWI) with the KC airport (MCI). Again, I find MCI to be a far faster and more efficient experience than the big box design like at BWI.

Leaving MCI (which is what most demolish-and-build-new advocates complain about), was a 30-minute experience -- park the car in the garage immediately adjacent to the tunnel and escalator. Use bathroom and buy magazine before security, 5 minutes. Walk through security (no line) 5 minutes, wait at gate about 20 minutes until boarding.

Leaving BWI was a 90-minute ordeal. Park the car in an enormous garage that required a 15-minute walk to the bus connection. The bus took another 10 minutes, followed by a 10 minute walk to the security checkpoint (no line, but huge, centralized, cavernous security lanes, requiring a slow, snaking walk). Clear security and walk another 10 minutes to the gate. Because of BWI's advice to arrive at the airport 120 minutes beforehand, wait 45 minutes to board. No power outlets anywhere, but at KC I didn't need them because I wasn't there long enough to need more power.

Arriving both airports was easy, but again KC had us in our car and on I-29 within 7 minutes of the plane parking at the gate. 1 minute on jetway, 1 minute out of secure zone, 1 minute to parking, 1 minute to pay, 3 minutes on roadway to I-29. BWI was a 10 minute walk out of the terminal to the bus and another 10 minute bus ride, followed by 15 minutes back roads to get to I-95.

Adjusting for wasted time at gates, Kansas City is still twice as fast as a big box terminal. Ultimately, the primary criterion for airport preference is how little time frequent travelers must spend there.