‘KCI’ in need of a solution

Sam Graves

It’s hard to know what, or who, to trust in the debate over Kansas City International Airport.

The Kansas City Aviation Department spent $258 million renovating KCI in 2004. Today, we’re still on the hook for about $200 million of that.

But rather than paying off the airport’s debt, the aviation department has its eyes set on spending more money, and convincing Kansas City that only its plan can save KCI.

The department wants to redesign an airport that people like because of its design. They’re going to complicate KCI when it consistently ranks as one of the most convenient in the country. And in the end, Kansas City will be left with a completely different airport than the one that’s so popular today.

As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I recognize the long, important process that the Aviation Department is undertaking, and I think we should work to find a compromise that will help modernize and improve KCI.

But the department long ago decided to build a $1 billion terminal. It’s the only plan it was ever going to accept, and they’re willing to do, or say, whatever it takes to get their way.

They claim the single terminal plan is the only option because spending $1 billion to build a new airport from scratch would be cheaper than renovating the terminals we already have.

I don’t buy it.

They claim that no tax dollars would be used to fund the project, but fail to acknowledge the $49 million annually they are relying on from the federal government to complete construction.

The simple fact is this: we just spent a quarter of a billion dollars renovating KCI a decade ago, and now this department wants another blank check.

There is a better way. It starts with an open, honest, and transparent process.

That’s the only way we can fix KCI without breaking the bank.