About this damned airport — Kansas City International, or as I know it, Kansas City Insipid Airport.
On Tuesday, June 1, The Star’s Randolph Heaster had a front-page story saying that reduced traffic at KCI — only 42 of 63 gates are being used — has airport officials looking more seriously at the possibility of scrapping the three-terminal set-up and going to a single terminal.
The story prompted at least two letters to the editor in The Star, both stressing how “convenient” and “traveler-friendly” Kansas City Insipid is.
I say balderdash. KCI is the dullest, dreariest major airport I’ve ever seen, and it’s horribly inefficient as far as check-in, security and concessions. A move to a single terminal — an inevitability — can’t happen soon enough for me.
A new, all-in-one terminal would inject energy into Kansas City, just as construction of the Power & Light District energized downtown. When you’re going after conventions and out-of-town visitors, you have to get people’s attention the moment they come off the jetway and take in their new, temporary surroundings.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the people who prattle on about KCI’s convenience are among those who complain about continued references to Kansas City’s “cowtown” roots. Well, I think we should be proud of our heritage and play it up. It’s distinctive, and it’s us. But it doesn’t mean we’re dull and dowdy.
That cowtown past is part of what piqued my curiosity about Kansas City when I pulled into town — driving my ’59 white Pontiac — in the fall of 1969. I remember going downtown to the Towne Cinema, I believe it was, and seeing the John Wayne movie “True Grit.” Maybe it was the movie and maybe it was just me — young and single and on the cusp of life on my own — but as I stood on the street later that afternoon and watched people pour out of the office buildings, I got a sense of a city with a pulse, a city where you could have a good time and set your own pace.
But that’s not the sense that travelers get when they arrive at KCI, is it? No. You step off the plane and into the terminal and you’re usually hit with the sight of a nearly empty concourse and the sounds of luggage wheels on marble. It doesn’t exactly cultivate a sense of action and excitement.
That’s what I want my city to have — a sense of excitement. As people get off the plane and check out their surroundings, I want them to be thinking, “All right, now, this is looking promising. What adventures are in store in this former cowtown?”
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Jim:
Have to disagree with you on this one. KCI is the easiest, most efficient airport I’ve ever been in, including Europe, the Far East and Southeast Asia. Just got back from New York and Pittsburgh, where you walk miles at La Guardia and in Pittsburgh International to get to your flight or to to pick up your bags, especially in Pittsburgh.
KCI is the greatest airport in the world. Security check-in is fast and efficient. On return, only a few steps to pick up your baggage and another few steps to the curb. No other airport in the world is planned this well. Too bad more gates aren’t being used. To change KCI to a one-terminal airport would cause travelers hours more time and frustration.
Sincerely,
Laura Hockaday
I totally disagree that KCI needs to be one long and extended terminal, aka shopping center. How does that indicate what kind of city Kansas City is? We could build some runways behind Zona Rosa, the new “Plaza” of the northland instead. We have a pleasant and efficient space to arrive in, why is loud and busy better? Does it need to by like Royals Stadium is now (loud and with constant entertainment), as opposed to how baseball stadiums used to be (organ music and the ability to converse with your friends and watch the game)?
What makes an airport a lively place? People. Now the passengers are distributed between 3 terminals and we only need 2 terminals. So why not just shutter one terminal for now? When and if traffic picks up at KCI then we can reopen the other terminal and will have saved the multimillion dollars required to build a new airport.
Show me the statistics that indicate how retail stores perform in the long and inconvenient airport terminals. But, why do I care how those stores do? I travel a lot and I love going directly to the area where my airline’s ticket counter is, walking a short distance and being at the gate, and when arriving home walking a short distance to the bag claim to pick up my luggage.
Eloquent and passionate comments, ladies. But I’ll take the buzz of an “active” airport — even if it requires a little longer walk to the gate — over the soporific experience of KCI.
Jim
So we’re a cowtown; that’s fine. So we don’t have the busiest and energetic airport; that’s fine too; fits right in with being a cowtown.
When I’m traveling I don’t stop and reflect on the town’s personality vis-a-vis my airport experience, I’m simply trying to get from point A to point B.
If MCI were a hub where thousands of people connected for other flights, it might be different. But most people flying in and out of MCI either live here or this is their destination. I love being able to walk a short way from the gate and retrieve my bag, walk a few more steps and catch he bus to long term parking. The constant crowds at O’Hare, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Atlanta, etc. make me nervous, sometimes angry and are always in my way. Security is a breeze here. You know how long those security lines are at other airports, even Louisville’s.
Jim,
You’ve missed the mark on this one. If you’ve done a lot of traveling (like over 150 days a year) as I used to do, you really learn to appreciate airport design.
Airport designers and airport travelers have totally opposite goals: designers want airports that are easy to maintain, and hold travelers hostage to the commercial shops, so passengers have to SPEND MONEY!
Travelers want airports that are easy to get in and out of, which makes it easier to travel. From a passenger’s view, KCI is a great airport! Easy to get into, easy to get out of, and curbside pickup! Yes, the 3 terminal design leaves a lot be desired if you have to change airlines, but most traveler don’t change airlines here.
If efficiency is so important, close one terminal, but building an entirely new terminal will only be a victory for airport commerce, not for the traveling public.
Jimmy C is under siege! Where will he hide? Ah, got it — in the “C” concourse at KCI: He’ll never be found.