Lee’s Summit is looking to drop the city’s name from their own airport, and instead make a new moniker featuring the name Kansas City, all part of an effort to increase their visibility and drum up more business. But the plan has Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas speaking out against the name change, causing turbulance between the metropolitan city and its suburban neighbor.
Lee’s Summit Municipal Airport is one of several general aviation airports in the Kansas City region, catering to businesses and private aircrafts. What began as a small, private airport has blossomed into an airport that serves the region after investment from the city, the state of Missouri and the Federal Aviation Administration, according to airport officials.
Now, airport manager Joel Arrington and other Lee’s Summit officials want the name of the airport to reflect that growth.
Greater Kansas City Regional Airport is the new name officials have proposed, with Summit Aero as the name of the fix based operator (FBO), which provides aviation services such as fueling, parking and providing space to house planes. The airport code, LXT, would remain the same.
“We’ve gotten all these new resources and amenities and facilities that no longer match that municipal name,” Arrington told The Star Tuesday. “In the aviation industry, that municipal name has a [stigma] to it of basic, minimal.”
On Sept. 24, Arrington, along with deputy director of public works Michael Anderson and contracted aviation planner Esteban Aguirre, presented the change to the Lee’s Summit city council. It was met with consensus approval, with the council slated to vote on the name change at their next meeting on Oct. 8.
But the proposed change has raised the ire of Lucas, who has been vocal on social media in opposition.
“Lee’s Summit is a great community we are proud to border,” Lucas said in a post. “The Kansas City name has, however, been attached exclusively (and understandably) to airports (MKC and MCI) in Kansas City since the beginning of aviation in our region.”
Lee’s Summit officials contend they chose ’Greater Kansas City’ for their new name so the flight industry would understand what area they serve; a move which could result in more air traffic, more revenue and more attention for the Kansas City area suburb. But Kansas City officials like Lucas counter that the Kansas City name should not be used outside city limits, and have even mentioned taking up the issue in court.
‘Confusion and risks’
In a statement sent to the Star, Jazzlyn Johnson, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, cited “confusion and risks to arriving travelers in the future, needless litigation as seen in other communities, and to protect investments by Kansas Citians and the FAA for nearly a century” as reasons for the opposition expressed by Lucas.
On social media, Lucas told a commenter that having “Greater” in the name hints Lee’s Summit’s airport would be the central airport for a region, “which would be inaccurate”.
Kansas City’s goal is to “preserve the Kansas City name for Kansas City facilities,” Johnson told The Star.
The move would not impact commercial flyers, however, since Kansas City International Airport (MCI) is the only commercial airport in the region. All other airports are for private aviation.
In a survey, Lee’s Summit airport officials polled these groups when soliciting feedback for the airport name change: Missouri Department of Transportation, the FAA, Lee’s Summit Economic Development, Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce, and the National Business Aviation Association’s schedulers and dispatchers.
Lee’s Summit Regional led the list of potential names over Greater Kansas City Regional and Kansas City Regional with five votes in a nine-person poll. While speaking to city council, deputy, Anderson said his internet searches for Kansas City airports did not show the Lee’s Summit’s airport, saying that a change is needed.
“Greater Kansas City doesn’t put a spotlight on Kansas City,” Anderson said during the meeting. “It puts a spotlight on this entire area, the entire area that we serve.”
Kansas City was alerted about the proposed name change earlier this year, according to Arrington.
Arrington said he ran into a Kansas City aviation department worker at a conference in April and wanted to talk about potential names that were proposed in the Lee’s Summit’s 2022 business plan. A meeting was set up for June but ended up being repeatedly rescheduled. Arrington contacted them again in August after names were narrowed down and his department was preparing to present the change to city council.
“Radio silence,” Arrington said about the response he received from Kansas City. He contacted Kansas City officials a final time the day before the presentation.
“They basically said, ‘Good luck with that,’” Arrington said about his final request for a meeting.
‘This is not a Mickey Mouse operation’
The investment in the airport has been a concerted effort over the past decade, Arrington said.
In 2017, an $18 million project expanded the airport’s north/south runway to 5,501 feet. Construction began on a new $16.7 million hangar in April, and is expected to be finished by next August. Fuel sales, the airport’s major source of revenue, went from a yearly average of 60,000 gallons a decade ago to selling almost 40,000 gallons monthly, Arrington said.
More than 40,000 takeoffs and landings are expected this year, up from nearly 28,000 two years ago, with over 80% of the traffic coming from outside the city.
Changing the airport’s name to reflect this investment and to make Lee’s Summit’s airport more popular, Arrington said, is the next step in its growth. Lee’s Summit’s airport offers a different location for incoming flights besides the Northland-based international airport KCI (MCI) and Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport, and putting Kansas City in the name would ensure that schedulers, dispatchers and pilots know they also serve the Kansas City area, he said.
“This is not a Mickey Mouse operation,” director of creative services Cheryl Nash said. “A lot of big companies are coming in here, celebrities, all kinds of people are flying in.”
Kevin Maturey, a career pilot who routinely stops at the airport, agreed that the name change would attract more air traffic.
“Lee’s Summit is a great airport,” he said. “If I say I’m going to Johnson County Executive, that could be anywhere in the country. If I said I’m going to the Greater Kansas City Airport, everybody knows where that is.”
There are other suburban private airports that have adopted Lee’s Summit’s strategy. Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago all have examples of airports similarly named to reflect their region that Aguirre referenced in his presentation to city council.
Lucas doesn’t agree with the proposal, but said he’s open to finding a solution “that is in the entire region’s best interest and serves the needs of all visitors for the World Cup and beyond.”
“We will actively engage with Lee’s Summit, the FAA, our courts, and other stakeholders as necessary,” Johnson, the mayor’s spokesperson, said.
If the name change passes through Lee’s Summit city council, it will be sent to the FAA for review; a process Arrington said could range from six months to two years.
Lee’s Summit doesn’t need approval from Kansas City to change their airport name. But getting the proposed new airport’s namesake on their side would be a helpful touch as they push ahead, they said.
“I wanted to make sure they understood that our brand that we’re putting together is first class, and they shouldn’t worry about that, because I’m sure they are,” Arrington said. “We’re not doing anything different than any [fix based operator] that’s at any of their airports.”
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