Primebuzz, Kansas City Star

By Brad Cooper

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves picked up a win when the House approved the new FAA bill last week.

Graves, a member of the House aviation subcommittee, was able to tack a measure onto the bill that would require airports to consider customer convenience when they develop new master plans.

This was all born out of the fury caused last year when KCI came up with a master plan that called for moving from it's current three terminal configuration to a single terminal that exists at many major airports.

While KCI says it considered customer convenience when it did it's master plan, Graves to want to make sure airports here and elsewhere don't forget the airline passenger when they do they these plans -- something they are required to to do every 10 years.

"We have to remember what this is about and it’s about those folks who have to use the airport,” Graves said. Airports may still come to the same conclusions in their master plans after considering customer convenience, but he he still wants it to be a factor.

 Graves said he didn’t know whether KCI considered cus-tomer convenience when they considered its master plan. But  he noted how area residents embrace the airport’s layout.

“There are a lot of folks out there that love the convenience of the Kansas City airport. That’s one of the biggest things it’s got going for it,” Graves said. “I just want to make sure (customer convenience) is a factor whenever they are doing these master plans.”

There are no imminent plans to reconfigure KCI. Planners say any airport changes are at least 15 to 20 years away. 

Some residents and travelers like the airport for the short walk from the gates to baggage pickup to ground transportation. The wait time in KCI’s security lines generally compare favorably to other airports.Last year, KCI was ranked as one of the most popular with passengers, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

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