MCI - The Definitive Thoughts....
#46
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: New York, NY USA
Programs: DL DM/ 2MM, BA Silver, Amtrak Select Executive, SPG Life Plat/Amb, Fairmont Preferred
Posts: 1,056
--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.
#47
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Flagler County, FL
Programs: Delta Skymiles, Marriott Bonvoy
Posts: 114
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.
--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.
#48
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Marriott or Hilton hot tub with a big drink <glub> Beverage: To-Go Bag DYKWIA: SSSS /rolleyes ☈ Date Night: Costco
Programs: Sea Shell Lounge Platinum, TSA Pre✓ Refusnik Diamond, PWP Gold, FT subset of the subset
Posts: 12,509
IIRC, the jetways that US was using ~20 years ago still had the Braniff logo on the operator's panel.
#49
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: CHA, MAN;
Programs: Delta DM 1 MM; Hz PC
Posts: 11,169
#50
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,558
#51
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: CHA, MAN;
Programs: Delta DM 1 MM; Hz PC
Posts: 11,169
#52
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Denver, Colorado
Programs: DEN: WN or UA, AA LT Gold, VIA Preference Preferred
Posts: 1,550
#53
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: New York, NY USA
Programs: DL DM/ 2MM, BA Silver, Amtrak Select Executive, SPG Life Plat/Amb, Fairmont Preferred
Posts: 1,056
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/)
#54
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2000
Location: RDU
Programs: AA LT Gold, DL SM, HY Disc, Marriott LT Gold
Posts: 12,502
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.
#55
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 2,653
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.
#56
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: ORD
Programs: United Silver, AA, Delta, Marriott, Hyatt.
Posts: 432
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.
#57
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: MSP
Programs: Delta PM, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,303
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.
#59
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: DFW
Programs: AA PLT (fmr EXP), UA SLV, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat Premier (LTG), IHG Gold, National Exec Elite
Posts: 175
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.
#60
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Earth
Posts: 912
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.