Here is a section from today’s KC Star story on the show yesterday.
Despite the public’s affection and emotional attachment to KCI, the airport is actually a “poor passenger experience,” with insufficient restrooms and minimal concessions in the gate areas, said Mark Perryman, a Landrum & Brown consultant who worked on the study.
Perryman said the airport’s baggage security systems and mechanical systems are hopelessly outdated and cannot be updated in the current, 40-year-old airport. And he said new security requirements coming in the near future will be hard to accommodate with KCI’s current design.
While the existing KCI currently has 30 gates, it was built for 90. The new terminal would be built for 37 gates initially, but the design would be flexible and the facility could be bumped out over time to 60 gates.
Perryman said a new airport could be just as convenient as the current facility, with gates and parking still close, and it doesn’t have to be a huge, intimidating behemoth. It would have different levels for departing and arriving passengers to minimize the congestion that can sometimes occur now.
“You’re not Atlanta or Chicago,” he said, adding that KCI could look to Sacramento, Indianapolis or Austin as cities with newer airports that work well.