Feb. 18—The last day of the month will bring big changes for regional travelers.
In a series of events titled A New Journey Begins 2023, Kansas City, Missouri, leaders have invited members of the public and the media to tour their four-year, $1.5 billion labor of love as it exists in a single, 40-gate passenger terminal at Kansas City International Airport. The old three-terminal structure continues operations until Feb. 27, before the earliest flight on Feb. 28, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 headed for Chicago, departs from the new structure.
"Whether it's the restaurants that you see that are local, the fountain that's in the main area where you check in — because Kansas City's obviously the city of fountains — or the color palette that mimics sort of the rolling fields of Missouri, we really wanted to try to capture the best of Kansas City in this new terminal," said Geoffrey Stricker, managing director of Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate LLC, which ran the terminal project.
All traffic for passenger services, shops, concessions, security and transportation will from that date flow through one two-story set of doors; departures on top, arrivals on bottom. Stricker said public input was solicited for every aspect of the new terminal's design. There's also more than $5 million in commissioned artwork distributed within — sculptures, paintings, collages, you name it.
Places like Union Station served as the 20th century front door of Kansas City, the image designed to stick in the mind of train passengers, coupled with the beating heart of Downtown. The airport — then called Midcontinent International, hence the abbreviation "MCI," which remains in official use — took a different approach. Dedicated in 1972, its three horseshoes innovated architecturally; not so much to create a lasting memory, but to get people out of their cars, through the gates and onto aircraft as quickly as possible.
Leaders found over time that the design doesn't really work in the modern world of passenger aviation. In particular, the need for consolidated security screening has been pressing. Moreover, the horseshoes have reached the end of their 50-year service life, and are to be demolished. The old garages will be maintained for airport staff parking. The seven-level replacement structure is meant to cover all demand including the Thursday-Sunday peak period. In general, wide open spaces are the wave of the future.
"With the existing facilities, each terminal is a third of a mile long, but only 70 feet wide," said Justin Meyer, municipal deputy director of aviation. "There's not enough space in the gate areas, enough for seats, let alone expanded restrooms or expanded concessions. So, once passengers are through the security checkpoint in this new terminal ... They can go anywhere."
When MCI first opened its doors, it was meant to serve as an international hub of Trans World Airlines, with dozens of Boeing 747s taking off every day for all sorts of global destinations. That plan became defunct well before TWA itself did in 2001. MCI has been without a direct flight to Europe since Icelandair quit the airport in 2020. As part of explaining how the new terminal can be expanded to 50 gates, Meyer expressed hope that trans-Atlantic service can be restored.
Marcus Clem can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowClem
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