MCI - The Definitive Thoughts....

Old Jun 26, 2013, 2:37 pm
  #46  
 
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Originally Posted by PBAudit
IIRC many years ago, MCI was actually a hub for an airline. It was their Midwest hub, but I cannot remember the airline. Of course, I could be wrong.
Many airlines hubbed at KC at some point, but all fell my the wayside.

--TWA
--Braniff
--Midwest (the only one in the 2000s
--SkyBus (if you count that one)

I think I'm missing a few others...

More recently it seems that MCI is edging toward being a DL focus city as DL now serves several former Midwest/Frontier routes--but no SkyClub.
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Old Jun 26, 2013, 2:46 pm
  #47  
 
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Originally Posted by PersonalFlotationDevice
Many airlines hubbed at KC at some point, but all fell my the wayside.

--TWA
--Braniff
--Midwest (the only one in the 2000s
--SkyBus (if you count that one)

I think I'm missing a few others...

I think Eastern gave it a go too in the late or mid 1980s if memory serves

More recently it seems that MCI is edging toward being a DL focus city as DL now serves several former Midwest/Frontier routes--but no SkyClub.
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Old Jun 26, 2013, 4:19 pm
  #48  
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Originally Posted by PersonalFlotationDevice
--Worse with regard to a weird fixation on really, really inspecting the driver's license. (I mean three times through the purple light, and then squinting at it, every time?)
Originally Posted by GRALISTAIR
OMG- you are correct. Now that you mention it I do remember they always do this - crazy. Wonder why?
I just get the usual once-over with my passport card in MCI. Highly recommended if you're a US citizen. ^


Originally Posted by PersonalFlotationDevice
Many airlines hubbed at KC at some point, but all fell my the wayside.
<>
--Braniff
IIRC, the jetways that US was using ~20 years ago still had the Braniff logo on the operator's panel.
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Old Jun 26, 2013, 4:30 pm
  #49  
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Originally Posted by PBAudit
IIRC many years ago, MCI was actually a hub for an airline. It was their Midwest hub, but I cannot remember the airline. Of course, I could be wrong.
Vanguard Airlines - went bankrupt Sept 2001?
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Old Jun 26, 2013, 6:09 pm
  #50  
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Originally Posted by N965VJ
I just get the usual once-over with my passport card in MCI. Highly recommended if you're a US citizen. ^
+1

I only use my passport card @ MCI.. Good luck trying to use a NEXUS card!
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Old Jun 27, 2013, 10:15 am
  #51  
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It was Vanguard Airlines

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguard_Airlines
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Old Jun 27, 2013, 12:41 pm
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Originally Posted by PersonalFlotationDevice
Many airlines hubbed at KC at some point, but all fell my the wayside.

--TWA
--Braniff
--Midwest (the only one in the 2000s
--SkyBus (if you count that one)

I think I'm missing a few others...
Don't forget US Air.

Daze
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Old Jun 27, 2013, 7:26 pm
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Good call on Eastern and Vanguard, but did USAir really hub in MCI? (I started flying a lot in the mid-1990s and they definitely weren't a hub then or after, but perhaps before/)
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Old Jun 27, 2013, 7:58 pm
  #54  
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Originally Posted by PersonalFlotationDevice
Good call on Eastern and Vanguard, but did USAir really hub in MCI? (I started flying a lot in the mid-1990s and they definitely weren't a hub then or after, but perhaps before/)
Sort of. They had a lot of EAS and other prop flying with Air Midwest, much of it on Beechcraft 1900s. And therefore they had a fair number of mainline flights to their traditional bigger markets. I recall doing a BOS-MCI-DSM/MCI-DCA-BOS routing on a business trip back in 1996 to make status. I flew the DSM-MCI back on Vanguard so I wouldn't have to endure a second 1900 flight.
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Old Jun 27, 2013, 8:07 pm
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Originally Posted by PersonalFlotationDevice
Good call on Eastern and Vanguard, but did USAir really hub in MCI? (I started flying a lot in the mid-1990s and they definitely weren't a hub then or after, but perhaps before/)
Nothing like PIT or CLT, of course. But a pretty good array of nonstop destinations including BOS, PHL, LGA, PIT, DCA, CLT, MCO, TPA, IND, ICT, ABQ, SAN, LAS, LAX, SFO and SEA plus the web of Air Midwest as US* feeding it.
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Old Jun 29, 2013, 2:18 pm
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KC native who still travels there 2-3x per year. I am also against the exorbitant expense of building a totally new terminal...mostly because it is being sold partially under the ridiculous assumption that it will result in direct flights to more cities. There has to be a way to close one of the existing terminals and retrofit the remaining two in a way more consistent with 21st century conditions.
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Old Jun 29, 2013, 2:42 pm
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Originally Posted by Clay_C.
KC native who still travels there 2-3x per year. I am also against the exorbitant expense of building a totally new terminal...mostly because it is being sold partially under the ridiculous assumption that it will result in direct flights to more cities. There has to be a way to close one of the existing terminals and retrofit the remaining two in a way more consistent with 21st century conditions.
Sure there is. Throw in modernizing the utilities systems and installing the EPA-mandated system to collect de-icing fluid and you're back up over $1 billion. The terminal has to be replaced.
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Old Jun 29, 2013, 3:58 pm
  #58  
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Of course I have also flown Great Lakes out of MCI to SLN and MHT (2007). Great Lakes stopped serving Kansas City a couple of years ago though.
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Old Jun 29, 2013, 5:01 pm
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Born and raised in northeast Kansas, I don't know what the answer is for MCI but I'm excited at the idea of them trying *anything*. I still have family there and have a residence in Overland Park, and its wonderful and fast to fly into but a pain to depart from if for nothing else than the extreme lack of seating in the secure area. I like the DFW-style layout (and love my new home airport) but would absolutely welcome something like IND as well.
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Old Jun 30, 2013, 10:16 am
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Originally Posted by Clay_C.
KC native who still travels there 2-3x per year. I am also against the exorbitant expense of building a totally new terminal...mostly because it is being sold partially under the ridiculous assumption that it will result in direct flights to more cities. There has to be a way to close one of the existing terminals and retrofit the remaining two in a way more consistent with 21st century conditions.

I am also a KC native and since I don't pay taxes there anymore I'm all for a new terminal. One thing I have always been proud of about KC is that it has the best of everything for a "smaller" metro area. We have pro sports teams that have always had their own stadiums. I think the Jackson County taxpayers just put some big cash into Arrowhead Stadium renovations. They put some rental car tax in place and built the Sprint Center downtown. There isn't even a legit tenant for that building (what Arena Football?) yet it was constructed. So I don't and haven't lived there for years but whyyyy all the fuss over a new terminal for the airport? Everything else in town that's outgrown its useful life has been replaced with a really great facility. I don't understand the hold up here.
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