I keep getting mailers with our own Mayor Sly James on them, telling me to "Vote yes November 1" on a new, single terminal airport here in Kansas City.
To which I say:
OH HELL NO.
Reasons why:
--This new single terminal boondoggle they want, this new, shiny bauble, will cost in excess---likely far in excess---of 1 billion dollars. That's reason enough. But it goes much, much farther than that.
--They say it will bring more flights to Kansas City.
That is utter nonsense.
Since when does anyone, anyone fly to a city for their airport? That's absurd. You go for family, friends, attractions. Heck, you go for the arts first. If the Nelson-Atkins Museum built another new building, THAT would get more people here, not some silly airport.
--Few people mention that this new, single terminal will actually have LESS GATES for planes than we have available now, with our 3 terminals. Less. So again, why would a new airport get us more flights?
--We've actually already been getting more flights in the last few years, even with the Airport Authority up there closing down one terminal. Check out the trend.
KCI Passenger Growth Continued
in November
KCI Airport Passenger Traffic Up
for 13th Straight Month
KCI Passengers Up 8.8 Percent in February
So, please, City Hall? Mayor? Kansas City Star? Everyone else? Don't give us this nonsense that "We need a new airport so we can grow" here in Kansas City. We're already growing. You guys just aren't reporting it.
---The fact is, the facts are, our airport, if it does look bad, it does so because the airport authority wants it to. I've written and said this before. They've been jonesing for a new, shiny toy in a single terminal airport FOR YEARS. And so, to get one, they've put off maintenance and overall made the place look run down and disjointed because they want us to walk away from all those buildings up there, fork over the cool one billion dollars plus it will take to get them this new toy and let them have their fun. Yeah, no thanks.
---If you don't think we will all pay for this somehow, you are certainly kidding yourself. Those of us who fly will pay and pay dearly. Those reasonably priced tickets to get to Grandma's house or vacation or business trips or whatever will be a thing of the distant past. And it will be painful, folks, don't kid yourself. It will be expensive, very expensive and again, painful.
---There is no reason in the world, construction, cost or otherwise, we can't use Terminal B as the main access point for the airport and then construct walkways out to Terminals A and C, to get to all the rest of the flights we want and need. It would save us hundreds of millions of dollars, folks. It would be fiscally responsible, very unlike the grossly, fiscally irresponsible idea of, again, walking away from our current facilities and building all brand new, nearby.
The Star even tries scare tactics and outright lies to get us to vote for this billion dollar plus waste and boondoggle.
The Star even tries scare tactics and outright lies to get us to vote for this billion dollar plus waste and boondoggle.
The existing KCI can't be made secure for a post-9/11 world
And if our current airport were updated and modernized and made more secure, as it should be, it would create jobs, construction jobs, just as the callers for a new airport would. Would it be as many jobs? No, certainly not, but we wouldn't be blowing through more than 1 billion dollars, either.
A new, single terminal airport here in Kansas City would be, I say again, fiscally and environmentally irresponsible and to huge degrees, on both issues.
People forget that, in the not-that-distant past, our airport had restaurants on the 2nd level where we could look out on the runways as flights came and went. That was back when it was newer, yes, but it was also back when the airport was well run and better run than it is now. We shouldn't forget that. It was done once--that is, run right and run well and it could be, again. We just need to demand it. It's out airport, after all. We pay for it. We keep it going.
So hell yes and hell no. This November 1, make sure you vote, first of all. And then, make damn sure you vote a clear, strong NO---HELL, NO, if you can---when it comes to the billion dollar plus boondoggle they want up North, for our airport.
And then let's get back the airport we all deserve. A well run one. A completely functioning, attractive, modern one. We can. We can do this.
Let's all give ourselves a terrific holiday gift this year. Let's do the responsible thing. Let's do the fiscally intelligent thing. Let's do the environmentally responsible thing.
VOTE NO NOVEMBER 1.
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