The city got a report on citizen satisfaction with airport services yesterday. They were asked which two airport services residents thought should receive the most emphasis from the city over the next two years.
As a mayor’s task force studies the future of KCI, the aviation department director on Tuesday reported airport trends to the mayor and city manager.
Mark VanLoh said cities are working together to try and get more direct flights between them.
Talks are under way with officials in San Jose, Calif., for instance, to try and link Silicon Valley with Kansas City and Google, he said.
There is also hope for more direct international flights from Kansas City in light of Austin, Tex., just getting a flight direct to London, he said.
New jets also can go farther on a tank of fuel and that makes such long flights more probable, he said.
Since 2007, a recession and a rash of airline mergers, KCI in 2013 had about a million fewer passengers a year, he said.
But in terms of fares, he said airlines here have every reason to be happy: “Our average fare in Kansas City is at a record high.”
Parking costs at KCI are about average of those in other airports, he said.
Restaurant and concession revenue, which rate last at KCI among 20 comparable airports, have been a source of contention while a citizen group decides whether to recommend keeping KCI or building a modern new one-terminal airport.
Some say things like concessions and food do not matter, some say they do.
On Tuesday, VanLoh reported that a survey of customers found that food, beverage and concession improvements ranked first of what should get the most city attention in the next two years.
He also reported that 80 percent of those who fly at KCI do not live in the city and only 43 percent of them live in Missouri.
People even drive from St. Louis to get cheaper fares at KCI, he said.
The mayor’s Airport Terminal Advisory Group is to make its KCI recommendation this month.
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