Kansas City NEEDS to Expand Its Frontier Hub (Springfield, Republic: rental car, rental)
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So Kansas City Airport is a hub for Frontier Airlines. Frontier is a great airline with cheap fares and good service (from my experience). Frontier also has hubs in Denver, Milwaukee, and Omaha. KCI is the third largest hub, but it doesn't feel like a hub at all! Milwaukee is just about as busy as KCI but have over 15 more destinations than KCI on Frontier alone! Frontier recently opened two more destinations to KCI (Minneapolis and San Antonio) but how about Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Orlando, or Phoenix? Milwaukee has the latter three as destinations why can't Kansas City? Those are four of Kansas City's top destinations that don't get Frontier service. We have 4 Frontier gates and Milwaukee has double that. We have many destination cities we should and could easily expand our gates and with more gates we can gain more destinations.
Till KC replaces that joke of a terminal, they are not going to be anybody’s hub.
Google KCI reviews and see what people outside of KC think of KCI. Most hate it and avoid it at all costs. There are no services, there will be two cramped gates full of people that can’t leave while 20 others sit empty, if you change planes, you have to go through security twice and even outside of security, there are almost no services, but inside it's almost torture with a few bathroom stalls and a sandwich kiosk. KCI is probably the worst airport in the country to have to spend more than 20 minutes at.
Not a great business move for an airline.
KC is about maxed out right now as far as how many people will use it and it's only operating at about 30% capacity. A new terminal and KCI could easily become one of the country's more connected airports with it's location and runway capacity.
I'm a frequent flyer, I fly all over the country all the time and KCI is probably the worst first impression airport in the country too. Most people think they just landed in topeka or something because of the way it's set up it seems like a tiny airport with nobody around, till you find those two gates at Southwest that are bursting at the seams as people beg to get on the plane and get someplace sophisticated enough to have large restrooms and a place to get a burger or even a newspaper etc.
It needs a new terminal, but KC people are afraid of losing their short walks. I love all the new terminals around the country. They are NICE and the wait at security is typically only 10 minutes longer than KCI if any longer at all. At least you are not out in the hallway in people’s way in their security lines.
Till KC replaces that joke of a terminal, they are not going to be anybody’s hub.
Google KCI reviews and see what people outside of KC think of KCI. Most hate it and avoid it at all costs. There are no services, there will be two cramped gates full of people that can’t leave while 20 others sit empty, if you change planes, you have to go through security twice and even outside of security, there are almost no services, but inside it's almost torture with a few bathroom stalls and a sandwich kiosk. KCI is probably the worst airport in the country to have to spend more than 20 minutes at.
Not a great business move for an airline.
KC is about maxed out right now as far as how many people will use it and it's only operating at about 30% capacity.
It needs a new terminal, but KC people are afraid of losing their short walks.
I completely agree with you KCMO, but since a new terminal isn't in the near future we got to work with what we got to expand our hub. Its really the only thing KCI has going for it right now.
The reason why Milwaukee has double the gates is because Republic Airlines (The owner of Frontier) bought both Frontier and Midwest Airlines and the hubs were Denver and Milwaukee. Right now Republic is losing a ton of money at the Milwaukee hub so a switch to a KC hub or focus city is likely.
The reason why Milwaukee has double the gates is because Republic Airlines (The owner of Frontier) bought both Frontier and Midwest Airlines and the hubs were Denver and Milwaukee. Right now Republic is losing a ton of money at the Milwaukee hub so a switch to a KC hub or focus city is likely.
KC is not a "hub" for any airline. Frontier is based in Denver, where it started. Now that Republic bought them, it's a little different, but Frontier occupies almost all, if not all of concourse A at DIA.
As pointed out by KCMO, KCI will probably never be a hub for an airline until they build a new terminal. It's not at all set up for people to fly in and change planes. Hubs tend to be located at larger airports in larger cities as well. DIA is always listed as one of the top 5 busiest airports in the country and serves a population (Front Range and Denver) of over 4 million people.
KC is not a "hub" for any airline. Frontier is based in Denver, where it started. Now that Republic bought them, it's a little different, but Frontier occupies almost all, if not all of concourse A at DIA.
As pointed out by KCMO, KCI will probably never be a hub for an airline until they build a new terminal. It's not at all set up for people to fly in and change planes. Hubs tend to be located at larger airports in larger cities as well. DIA is always listed as one of the top 5 busiest airports in the country and serves a population (Front Range and Denver) of over 4 million people.
Technically, by Frontier, KCI is a hub. As much as it doesn't feel like a hub, it is growing at KCI. Frontier says that once it has a good enough ridership at KCI, they will bring in a local Frontier office.
The problem is nobody wants to connect at KCI. Trust me, most avoid MCI like the plague, even if they have to go through places like Atlanta instead. MCI outside of KC has the reputation of simply being a 1960's, tiny, weird, annoying gost town airport with no services. It really gives off a false impression of the city. KCI is actually a top 40 airport I believe with over 10 million passengers a year, but it feels more like an airport you would find in Peoria to most travelers.
MCI will never be a hub now (kc missed that boat when denver built dia and kc did nothing with mci's terminal in the 80's and 90's).
The way kci is set up, it will never be even a mini hub. I used to fly Midwest all the time and you would not believe the complaints I overheard. I stil hear them all the time, especially with southwest travelers (KCI's biggest carrier). People don't like to connect at kc, even if they don't have to leave the gate because there are no services. Even the pilots and flight attendants hate ending a shift or spending layover time at kc because of the lack of services and dining. It’s a perfect location for a hub and that’s why airlines keep trying to make it work, but when your customers don’t like then it simply won’t work in the long run.
Denverian, KC's market is no slouch. KC/topeka/stjoe/lawrence is around 3 million and the kci market is even larger than denver's (or comparable) because the region is more populated with secondarily cities like Omaha, Wichita, Des Moines etc adding millions more. Even so, you don't have to have a huge local market to sustain a hub. Salt Lake City, Memphis, Charlotte etc come to mind.
Had KC built a terminal before denver did, I think KC might have become a major hub instead of denver. The land KCI sits on is perfect for a mega airport. It's not landlocked, has 3 long uncongested runways (with room for more), plenty of room for parking, good highway access and is much closer to the center of the country. MCI has the infrastructure and layout of a DIA and the terminal of Springfield, MO. All of MCI’s assets are wasted because of the terminal buildings.
St Louis had a hub now that it’s not a hub, you can see how much their traffic dropped. St Louis waited too long as well to upgrade their terminals and build a runway. Now that runway in StL is seems like a waste. StL is landlocked though, they can't go out and build a DIA type terminal and have four or five runways without tearing down most of north county. KCI could have built what denver built without much trouble using the land and infrastructure they already had and KCI is much closer to metro KC and downtown than DIA is to most of metro Denver or downtown denver.
TWA (now American) would have never left KC in the first place had KC built a new terminal.
I never connect at KCI, it’s always a start or end trip for me and I still hate KCI. I hate the fact that I’m confined to a gate rather than terminal concourse. I hate the lack of services and just the overall Podunk feel of the airport when you walk off the jetway.
But people seem to really like that 75 foot walk from curb to gate, so much so that KCI's lack of a modern terminal might have been KC’s single biggest missed opportunity to propell kc into a higher tier of cities like Denver, Minneapolis and Dallas.
Indy just built an amazing new terminal and even though KCI is slightly busier than Indy right now, that will not be the case in ten years.
I love KCI and think its great if you live in KC but if you have to connect it does blow. I don't understand why people complain about food options, why waste your money on overpriced food and water in the first place, just pack it.
People complain about having to pay for baggage fees or paying for seat upgrades but they are so willing to drop 50 bucks on a meal at some overpriced and gross Wolfgang Puck restaurant inside the airport.
I love KCI and think its great if you live in KC but if you have to connect it does blow. I don't understand why people complain about food options, why waste your money on overpriced food and water in the first place, just pack it.
People complain about having to pay for baggage fees or paying for seat upgrades but they are so willing to drop 50 bucks on a meal at some overpriced and gross Wolfgang Puck restaurant inside the airport.
I have never spent 50 bucks on any meal at any airport. All I ask for is a place to get a slice of pizza and a bottle of water and even that is typically not possible at KCI even before you go through security, once you go through security you have pretty much nothing, not to mention cramped little bathrooms (if there are any at all) and often no place to even sit (when you can see 500 empty seats on the other side of the glass at the next gate).
I hate KCI. My hometown airport is now generally BWI and it get through that airport just as fast as KCI and I'm not out in the middle of a the very narrow concourse in other people's way waiting in line for security. If 2-3 flights depart in a few gates at once at KCI, it becomes a total mess in 2% of the airport while the rest is a ghost town. Short term parking is just as close at BWI, right across the street and the bus ride to the long term parking (what I use most) is just about the same as KCI. The only difference is that once I rush to get through security (typically 5-10 minutes) I have a full airport to roam, grab bottles of water, a newspaper, a cheap meal or salad or slice of pizza and if my gate is full, I can sit in the empty one next door. Oh and I have access to real bathrooms.
Have you ever had a flight delayed or canceled at KCI? I have and it's the worst airport in the world for such a thing to happen. You are trapped in a gate for hours. You don't even have monitors telling you the status of other flights (or even your flight) without leaving the secure area and the monitors out in the concourses don't even show all flights at KCI, but only for the terminal you are in, so you can't really look at other airline options. I have never seen an airport not display all flights on a monitor, especially a smaller airport like KCI. It's bad enough that kci is the worst airport to connect at even if staying on the same airline, but I can't even imagine having to change airlines and terminals. You get off the first plane and you have no way of even knowing where your other flight is, if it's on time what terminal it's in etc. You finally wait up to 20 minutes for a little red bus to take you to another terminal where you can get some info, go through security "again" and if it's a cross country flight, I hope you grabbed a few extra bags of peanuts cause you are not going to have time to hunt down that lone burger king in terminal B that might be open.
KCI is a joke. The only good about KCI is it has free wifi. But that's probably the only thing that makes spending more than 15 minutes there bearable.
Oh and the rental car fees at KCI are OFF THE CHARTS high. Wow. I rent cars all over the country and KCI's fees are mind boggling high, much higher than any other place I have rented. The fees at KCI can double a basic car rental rate. Maybe if KCI had more flights (or more ways to bring in revenue with a real terminal), it wouldn't have to charge so many fees for rental cars. That has to hurt convention business.
I love KCI and think its great if you live in KC but if you have to connect it does blow. I don't understand why people complain about food options, why waste your money on overpriced food and water in the first place, just pack it.
People complain about having to pay for baggage fees or paying for seat upgrades but they are so willing to drop 50 bucks on a meal at some overpriced and gross Wolfgang Puck restaurant inside the airport.
I've never spent $50 at an airport on food. I was actually stunned by how competitively priced food was at Regan in DC when we were just there. There was a Potbelly that had sandwiches in the $4-7 range, a pizza place with $3.50 slices and I paid $1.27 for a bottled water.
I'm not sure how often you fly, but you can't bring a drink through security, so it's pretty necessary in my mind to have some beverage options at a bare minimum.
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