For years, Kansas Citians have been nearly unanimous in their praise of Kansas City International Airport.
One would be hard-pressed to find any airport in the U.S. where passengers can drop passengers off more easily and within minutes they are at their gate.
Long lines of inspectors that are commonplace at other airports do not exist at KCI. Long-term parking in the economy lots at KCI is efficient and cheap.
So many KC folks are a bit perplexed that despite being so consumer-friendly KCI has announced plans to consolidate into a single terminal.
On Kansas City Star reporter Steve Kraske’s weekday “Up to Date” public radio show on KCUR (89.3 FM) show today he featured Kansas City’s aviation director Mark VanLoh. He outlined the advantages of constructing a new 37+ gate terminal on the site of the current Terminal A to house all the airport’s traffic.
VanLoh outlined how costs could be cut by the TSA with one area for screening (although he admitted the TSA has not requested it), how the parking would improve for business passengers willing to spend $22 a day for parking, and how more efficient the entire operation would be.
A caller to the show then outlined his concerns and said it seemed as if the airport was ignoring the customers and really focusing more on non-customer issues. He felt the airport was losing its customer focus and moving in the wrong direction.
VanLoh’s response likely stunned some travelers when he stated he works for the airlines and not the flying public. He said his goal is to make things easier for the airlines, and not necessarily for passengers.
His response dramatically showed that KCI customers can complain all they want about the planned consolidation at the airport, but the consolidation is a done deal.
In a story in the The Pitch one commenter noted:
“This is idiots in government at work. In the past, I traveled for a living. Hands down, KC has the most efficient passenger airport in the nation. However, it doesn’t make you walk through many shops on the way to transportation. So, less money for bureaucrats.”
Dana Wright was succinct discussing the plans to change KCI on the “Dana and Parks” radio show on KMBZ 980 AM today.
“We need to change KCI Airport—said absolutely no one,” said Wright. “We have the greatest airport in America.”
Despite that comment and similar ones VanLoh made it clear he doesn’t really answer to them. And doesn’t really care what they think.
REVIEW OF PROGRAM
I sure wish you would listen to the interview again. I would love to review our entire program with you. I will sit down with you at your convenience.
PICKING UP THE TAB
So Mark who will be paying for this? Oh YOU & The airlines are paying for this well then do as you please. However you come to US TAXPAYERS to pay for this you & the airlines can go to hell. KCI from day one was to be an INTERNATIONAL Airport. Well where are all these International Flights? Go bull**** someone else because we Kansas Citians are NOT buying it.
EXPLANATION IS BUNK
Anyone that is paid with taxpayer money works for the taxpayers, period. If Mark VanLoh is arrogant enough to believe his job is to cater to airlines and vendors over the wishes of taxpayers, he should be fired.
This is the same guy that put his PR person out to say that the Muslim foot washing basins that he had installed at the taxi holding area was really for washing cars and had nothing to do with Islam. That answer didn’t pass the laugh test.
When I complained via email, I received a reply threatening my air traffic controller job at KCI. But I’m not an air traffic controller and I dont work at KCI. I just happen to share the same name with someone that does. That’s how it goes there I guess, rule by intimidation.
Earlier, Mark VanLoh presided over a refurbishment of the terminals that failed to put restrooms inside the secured areas. After a furor erupted, did he face reporters? No. Once again the PR guy was trotted out to say that there was no infrastructure available to have restrooms inside the gates. Miraculously, after some time, restrooms were built insides security.
Now, VanLoh tries to make it appear that taxpayer money won’t be used to pay for a new terminal. Anyone following the story knows his explanation is bunk.
IF IT AIN’T BROKE
The old adage goes like this: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, KCI doesn’t appear to be “broke,” so please leave well enough alone. No, this entire project is being driven by behind-the-scenes players looking to pad their pockets – architects, engineers, contractors, etc. International flights? I don’t think KCI even has any planes going to our near neighbors Canada and Mexico.
KCI IS LACKING
KCI has one thing going for it, as John indicated in his piece: Ease of dropping off a passenger close to their gate. Away from that, KCI is one of the worse travel experiences in the country. Glorified port-o-potties serve as restrooms, inside the secured zone, which smell of urine constantly and are unsanitary when shared amongst as many as four gates (Delta terminal gates 56 – 60). Two day old sandwiches and chicklets at a kiosk, generally not manned consistently. And if your flight is delayed, be prepared to re check thru security again if you want to use a proper restroom. Basically, you are a prisoner inside a secure zone in KCI, vis-à-vis other airports.
The TSA agents in Term A & C have a good deal. Waiting around for hours to clear a couple of flights. The airlines will not put one dime, repeat, one dime in KCI as is. Delta is pouring hundreds of millions into JFK and LaGuardia to improve the customer experience and improve efficiency of check in, in addition to well-appointed lounges for frequent fliers and even comfortable seating and charge stations in the general concourses…none of that at KCI.
The TSA pre-check program is a great innovation and is being rolled out nationally, by all the major airlines, in cooperation with the TSA. No more taking your shoes, jacket off or laptop out with these lanes. Kansas Citians will never have this upgrade in KCI with the status quo.
As for the Federal dollars potentially available to help pay for a new terminal….well, GRAB IT BEFORE SOME OTHER STATE/CITY DOES !! These FAA earmarks aren’t going away, regardless of which party is in power. As for convenience, a 37 gate terminal would have three prongs outward after passing a central security area. It’s not Atlanta with trams and lots of walking.
MUST REBUILD THE AIRPORT
As a frequent traveler, I was initally skeptical of the need for change, but I have come to accept it is necessary to have a modern airport. The design is far from locked, but as profiled in the Star, it is a step in the right direction.
The inconveniences and inefficiences of the current design outweigh the benefits. If we want to continue to have more than very modest airline service and direct flights, the city must step up and rebuild the airport.
That being said, the context here is that the public is not the beneficiary–the airlines are and that may be a hard truth for many to swallow. The airlines can–and will–pack up their planes and go home if the airport can’t better serve their needs.
NO MORE BUTT RUBBING
I agree that the main convenience at KCI is the ability to drop-off and pick-up passengers close to the gates. That’s about it.
Security is far from ideal, and it has to be super-expensive compared to comparable airports. The airlines pay that charge, meaning we ultimately pay for it in ticket prices.
I fly Frontier a lot, and they do not have a back-scatter x-ray machine, so folks like me with metal joints get patted down every time we fly out of KCI. A central security area in a new airport would include a back-scatter machine, meaning no more pat-downs.
Believe it or not, I will not miss the back of some TSA agent’s hand rubbing my butt.
CITY EMPLOYEE?
I thought Mr. VanLoh worked for the city. If he does, he doesn’t work for the airlines, he works for me.
How else could we spend $1.2 billion? We could quit selling food at the terminal and simply give each passenger free food. What would that be, a couple of missions a year. And we could have concierge personnel at every gate and a staff cleaning the restrooms continually both of which would create jobs. That might be another $10 million each year–a drop in the bucket of the $1.2 billion.
Need to switch terminals? Which is a small percentage of the people I’ll bet (When I fly Southwest for example I stay on Southwest all the way, never switching to another airline.) But what if you need to switch? Kansas City’s free rickshaw service I propose would just run you to the next terminal or in bad weather escort you to get you on the right bus and stay with you till you get to your next terminal.
All that and we haven’t come close to spending $.2 billion much less $1.2 billion. I picked up a visitor form California at the terminal last week. After deplaning she had less than a two minute walk to the baggage claim. We walked out the door, across the street and in another two minutes we were in my car and on our way.
In any other major terminal in the U.S. you wouldn’t even have reached baggage claim. Denver has a new airport much like we are proposing and it sometimes feels like I need to leave for the airport on Wednesday to get to my gate by Thursday. Literally to drop off my rental car and get to the gate is between a half hour and a full hour. Let us do something imaginative instead of spending $1.2 billion to imitate airline concepts that are decades old. Times change. Adjust. Create.