April 04--A Kansas City Council committee today gave a thumbs up to continued planning for a new airport, which would be built on top of what is currently Terminal A at KCI.
But a lot more needs to happen -- including workshops and hearings to gather feedback from a skeptical public -- before a new airport could be built, possibly in five to seven years.
"This is the end of the beginning of a long process," City Manager Troy Schulte told members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which heard an overview of the 300-page Advance Terminal Planning study.
The study confirms what had already been presented last fall: the aviation department recommends replacing the existing KCI with a new terminal that could accommodate all passengers and airlines where the existing Terminal A is located.
The entire project, including terminal and other improvements, would cost an estimated $1.2 billion and would be paid for with passenger ticketing fees and other aviation funds but not any general taxpayer dollars. The financing method is still not identified, but Schulte acknowledged that selling municipal airport bonds would be the "cheapest form of financing."
In Missouri, any time a municipality issues debt, it must go to a public vote, so that means Kansas City residents might get a chance to vote on this plan even if their tax dollars are not paying for it. Aviation officials acknowledged that many people love the airport just the way it is but insisted that a new airport design can retain those passenger-friendly elements, such as close-in parking and gates, while adapting to all the security challenges of the modern aviation world.
Aviation Director Mark VanLoh said all the airline consolidations are hard to accommodate in Kansas City's current three-terminal configuration. He said Kansas City has lost market share to Wichita, Columbia and Branson, not to mention to larger airports, and has no ability to accommodate direct flights to Europe or other major business destinations.
"We could lose our dominance in the Midwest," he said.
He said the airport's baggage claim areas and mechanical systems are hopelessly outdated and cannot be updated in the current, 40-year-old airport. And he said new security requirements coming in the near future will be hard to accommodate with KCI's current design.
Kansas City resident Patrick Shami wasn't convinced. He told the committee that the department's plan to spend $117,000 on a public relations firm smacked of a "thinly disguised campaign" to manipulate public opinion for a plan that is very unpopular.
But Committee Chair Russ Johnson defended the city's push to keep modernizing the airport. He said residents also had an emotional attachment to Kemper Arena, but the city still made the right decision when it built the downtown Sprint Center arena.
"We can love what we have," Johnson said, adding that the city must continue to adapt, to make progress and remain a "world-class city."
To reach Lynn Horsley, call 816-226-2058 or send email to [email protected].
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