KCI group ready to vote

Photo courtesy Kansas City International Airport New Terminal Advance Planning presentation.

Photo courtesy Kansas City International Airport New Terminal Advance Planning presentation.

The mayor’s KCI advisory group will soon announce its recommendation.

Members agreed today to vote on the future of the airport by email and announce the outcome at a final May 7 meeting.

The three options to vote on:

  • Keep the current multi-terminal airport with major expansion and enhancements like new parking and road changes. Rough estimated costs would be about $700 million.
  • A major renovation and expansion that includes building a central processing structure. People would clear security there and things like trams and possibly walkways would take them to the terminals. The estimated cost would be $700 to $900 million.
  • Build a single terminal airport within the existing area. Estimated cost: $800 million to $1.2 billion.

David Fowler, co-chair of the group, said he will email a series of questions for members to answer by midnight of May 6. One will be which option they support, he said. Others will include asking suggestions for a process on how the city and aviation officials should use the group’s information.

Whatever the group recommends, it is just a start.

The city aviation department and the airlines recently agreed to work together on a airport improvement plan, which is to be done within two years.

Fowler noted that the aviation department and airlines agreement took shape after airlines officials spoke to the advisory group.

That addition to the process, he said, “can be partially attributed to the good work this committee has done.”

The group has studied the controversial matter for almost a year.

It evaluated all the options in terms of key indicators, such as convenience, operations and efficiencies, expansion ability, impression and impact, and more.

It heard from stakeholders that ranged from business leaders who said the ugly 40-year-old airport needs to be replaced to airline executives who said that would be too expensive.

 

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