DiamondFlyer wrote:

KCaviator wrote:

MatthewTKS wrote:

The big question is what barbeque will they have? A number of BBQ restaurants have said they're not interested because of the challenges on-site.

A smart move, IMO. If they can't offer their product at the standard everyone expects because of logistical hurdles, then a substandard product would only hurt their reputation. That's huge in an airport where it would be many people's first impression.

So they'll end up with a trash fast food like BQQ product (Zarda...), and everyone will "enjoy" that at the airport.

Yeah... unfortunately that's my guess. Highly doubt we'll see Joe's, Jack Stack, Q39, etc.

KCaviator wrote:

FlapOperator wrote:

KCaviator wrote:

The concession contract was announced yesterday and here are a few local establishments mentioned:

-Martin City Brewing
-Parisi Coffee
-Bo Lings
-City Market Coffee
-Brown & Loe

This is absolutely awesome. Love the local feel the new airport is going to have. This is going to be the crown jewel of the city.

For 3.8 billion bucks, it should.

Uh, it's not even costing half of that.

What is the total financed cost? Why is this assessment wrong. For the total cost of the new terminal we could give every passenger at 2019 enplanements (500k per month) a $100 Gates or Q39 meal for the 63 years.

https://www.kansascitymag.com/new-kansas-city-airport/#:~:text=Here%27s%20how%20the%20new%20%241.5%20billion,Kansas%20City%20airport%20terminal%20stacks%20up.

Is there any word on how the parallel runways will be utilized with the new terminal? Due to the positioning of the new building, it looks like quite a long taxi to get to 1R/19L

B778 wrote:

Is there any word on how the parallel runways will be utilized with the new terminal? Due to the positioning of the new building, it looks like quite a long taxi to get to 1R/19L

Been awhile since I've landed there, but I imagine with the general push to keep arriving and departing aircraft separate, I bet we will see one used for departures, the other for arrivals.

FlapOperator wrote:

B778 wrote:

Is there any word on how the parallel runways will be utilized with the new terminal? Due to the positioning of the new building, it looks like quite a long taxi to get to 1R/19L

Been awhile since I've landed there, but I imagine with the general push to keep arriving and departing aircraft separate, I bet we will see one used for departures, the other for arrivals.

It wouldn't be that crazy to imagine the airlines using 19R for arrivals and 9 for departures if the winds permit. MCI isn't busy enough that they need the parallels for throughput.

1L/19R has been closed for awhile for renovation. It'll be open before the new terminal. I'm sure it'll be a highly requested runway given its proximity.

KCaviator wrote:

1L/19R has been closed for awhile for renovation. It'll be open before the new terminal. I'm sure it'll be a highly requested runway given its proximity.

Multi year rebuild with the idea that it becomes the main runway in 2023+

FlapOperator wrote:

KCaviator wrote:

FlapOperator wrote:

For 3.8 billion bucks, it should.

Uh, it's not even costing half of that.

What is the total financed cost? Why is this assessment wrong. For the total cost of the new terminal we could give every passenger at 2019 enplanements (500k per month) a $100 Gates or Q39 meal for the 63 years.

https://www.kansascitymag.com/new-kansas-city-airport/#:~:text=Here%27s%20how%20the%20new%20%241.5%20billion,Kansas%20City%20airport%20terminal%20stacks%20up.

Check your math.

A nice September update on the terminal progress: https://twitter.com/BuildKCI/status/1444048223614742528

That parking garage looks…. HUGE!! Glad to see thing progressing. I have avoided MCI for 15 years, but when this is done, I will be back.

strangeplanes wrote:

KCaviator wrote:

1L/19R has been closed for awhile for renovation. It'll be open before the new terminal. I'm sure it'll be a highly requested runway given its proximity.

Multi year rebuild with the idea that it becomes the main runway in 2023+

Yeah, I suspect that 19R/1L would be the preferred runway for most flights, however with the way 19L/1R is offset from 19R/1L taxi times to either won't be dramatically different. Even in worse case scenarios taxi times at MCI are better than most major airports. Perhaps when they demolish the B and C terminals they could build another taxiway parallel to taxiway C which would cut taxi times even more to 19L.

Here are the number of passengers, number of seats, and load factors for WN flights out of MCI in July 2021:
ATL-MCI - 15201 passengers, 16908 seats, 89.90% load factor
AUS-MCI - 8855 passengers, 9314 seats, 95.07% load factor
BNA-MCI - 25643 passengers, 27735 seats, 92.46% load factor
BWI-MCI - 17217 passengers, 18615 seats, 92.49% load factor
CHS-MCI - 1322 passengers, 1430 seats, 92.45% load factor
DAL-MCI - 32997 passengers, 37717 seats, 87.49% load factor
DEN-MCI - 37440 passengers, 42999 seats, 87.07% load factor
ECP-MCI - 5492 passengers, 7154 seats, 76.77% load factor
FLL-MCI - 8479 passengers, 11512 seats, 73.65% load factor
HOU-MCI - 9005 passengers, 10010 seats, 89.96% load factor
LAS-MCI - 25683 passengers, 28134 seats, 91.29% load factor
LAX-MCI - 7683 passengers, 8108 seats, 94.76% load factor
MCI-MCO - 28425 passengers, 31438 seats, 90.42% load factor
MCI-MDW - 34108 passengers, 38882 seats, 87.72% load factor
MCI-MIA - 1165 passengers, 1430 seats, 81.47% load factor
MCI-MYR - 2171 passengers, 2734 seats, 79.41% load factor
MCI-OAK - 9030 passengers, 9346 seats, 96.62% load factor
MCI-PDX - 1358 passengers, 1430 seats, 94.97% load factor
MCI-PHX - 27258 passengers, 30667 seats, 88.88% load factor
MCI-PNS - 7207 passengers, 8900 seats, 80.98% load factor
MCI-RSW - 9262 passengers, 11600 seats, 79.84% load factor
MCI-SAN - 7558 passengers, 8283 seats, 91.25% load factor
MCI-SAT - 994 passengers, 1272 seats, 78.14% load factor
MCI-SEA - 1342 passengers, 1430 seats, 93.85% load factor
MCI-SNA - 8262 passengers, 8898 seats, 92.85% load factor
MCI-SRQ - 1132 passengers, 1430 seats, 79.16% load factor
MCI-STL - 15322 passengers, 17851 seats, 85.83% load factor
MCI-TPA - 13114 passengers, 15311 seats, 85.65% load factor
MCI-VPS - 573 passengers, 1144 seats, 50.09% load factor

October update for the new terminal just posted...that place is looking really nice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgSAEqrpBAA

Supposedly an 11k sqft sky team lounge is in the works. No official announcement yet and not sure if it will be the only premium lounge or if it’s in conjunction with a general use facility. If it turns out to be true, should certainly help grease the wheels for DL to add a long haul flight.

11,000 foot Delta Skyclub going into the new terminal. Lease is before City Council.

Makes sense. DL has to be MCIs biggest legacy.

trexel94 wrote:

Supposedly an 11k sqft sky team lounge is in the works. No official announcement yet and not sure if it will be the only premium lounge or if it’s in conjunction with a general use facility. If it turns out to be true, should certainly help grease the wheels for DL to add a long haul flight.

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Polot wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

Supposedly an 11k sqft sky team lounge is in the works. No official announcement yet and not sure if it will be the only premium lounge or if it’s in conjunction with a general use facility. If it turns out to be true, should certainly help grease the wheels for DL to add a long haul flight.

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Sure, but I do find it interesting that the proposed lounge would be more than double the size of comparable stations and bigger than even rapidly growing AUS and legacy markets with much more DL traffic such as CVG and RDU.

trexel94 wrote:

Polot wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

Supposedly an 11k sqft sky team lounge is in the works. No official announcement yet and not sure if it will be the only premium lounge or if it’s in conjunction with a general use facility. If it turns out to be true, should certainly help grease the wheels for DL to add a long haul flight.

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Sure, but I do find it interesting that the proposed lounge would be more than double the size of comparable stations and bigger than even rapidly growing AUS and legacy markets with much more DL traffic such as CVG and RDU.

Will Delta add connecting flights in KC?

Is leased space and lounge space different?
Ie. Does Delta advertise front of house while the KC lease shows front and back of house

trexel94 wrote:

Polot wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

Supposedly an 11k sqft sky team lounge is in the works. No official announcement yet and not sure if it will be the only premium lounge or if it’s in conjunction with a general use facility. If it turns out to be true, should certainly help grease the wheels for DL to add a long haul flight.

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Sure, but I do find it interesting that the proposed lounge would be more than double the size of comparable stations and bigger than even rapidly growing AUS and legacy markets with much more DL traffic such as CVG and RDU.

That’s probably a greater reflection of the benefits of a large brand new terminal designed to replace 3 terminals versus having to find space for a Skyclub in an existing smaller terminal, that in the case of AUS and RDU, were designed and built when DL’s operations at the airport were much smaller. DL would probably love to have larger Skyclubs in AUS and RDU. CVG use to have more than one DL lounge.

Polot wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

Polot wrote:

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Sure, but I do find it interesting that the proposed lounge would be more than double the size of comparable stations and bigger than even rapidly growing AUS and legacy markets with much more DL traffic such as CVG and RDU.

That’s probably a greater reflection of the benefits of a large brand new terminal designed to replace 3 terminals versus having to find space for a Skyclub in an existing smaller terminal, that in the case of AUS and RDU, were designed and built when DL’s operations at the airport were much smaller.

Potentially double the size of new terminal lounges elsewhere. I am suspicious that Delta only reports FOH…….

Polot wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

Supposedly an 11k sqft sky team lounge is in the works. No official announcement yet and not sure if it will be the only premium lounge or if it’s in conjunction with a general use facility. If it turns out to be true, should certainly help grease the wheels for DL to add a long haul flight.

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Many of the 767s aren’t leaving anytime soon and DL could theoretically deploy an A332 as it only has 7 more seats (the retrofitted variety).

since there is a question of who the largest legacy is. Here is local domestic revenue for Q2 out of MCI
WN 44%
AA 22%
DL 18%
UA 9%

trexel94 wrote:

Polot wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

Supposedly an 11k sqft sky team lounge is in the works. No official announcement yet and not sure if it will be the only premium lounge or if it’s in conjunction with a general use facility. If it turns out to be true, should certainly help grease the wheels for DL to add a long haul flight.

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Many of the 767s aren’t leaving anytime soon and DL could theoretically deploy an A332 as it only has 7 more seats (the retrofitted variety).

Officially the 763s will be gone by the end of the year 2025. That is only 3 years away, and if DL sticks to that the fleet will be shrinking over the next couple of years. Already the fleet is smaller than pre covid, as DL has sold some of them.

You are right that the A332 is not that much bigger…but DL only has 11 of them. Not sure MCI would ever be a priority for that fleet.

tphuang wrote:

since there is a question of who the largest legacy is. Here is local domestic revenue for Q2 out of MCI
WN 44%
AA 22%
DL 18%
UA 9%

AA ahead of DL surprises me a bit but I guess thru all of covid DL has pulled back more. I would assume DL was quite a bit ahead of them precovid and will end up being again by next summer.

trexel94 wrote:

Sure, but I do find it interesting that the proposed lounge would be more than double the size of comparable stations and bigger than even rapidly growing AUS and legacy markets with much more DL traffic such as CVG and RDU.

There are some non-DL hub airports in the U.S. that already have a Delta Sky Club lounge such as AUS, ORD, CVG, DFW, DEN, FLL, HNL, IND, JAX, MEM, MIA, MKE, BNA, MSY, EWR, MCO, PHL, PHX, PDX, RDU, SAN, SFO, TPA, DCA, and PBI.

Non-AA hub airports with AA Admirals Club lounges include ATL, AUS, BOS, DEN, HNL, IAH, BNA, EWR, SNA, MCO, PIT, RDU, SFO, STL, and TPA.

Non-UA hub airports with UA Club lounges include ATL, AUS, BOS, CLE, DFW, FLL, HNL, LAS, MSP, MSY, LGA, SNA, MCO, PHL, PHX, RDU, SAT, SAN, SEA, and DCA.

DL has lounges at more non-hub airports than AA and DL do. DL also doesn't have any p2p nonstop routes out of some of the non-DL hub airports that have DL Sky Clubs.

Jshank83 wrote:

tphuang wrote:

AA 22%

AA ahead of DL surprises me a bit but I guess thru all of covid DL has pulled back more. I would assume DL was quite a bit ahead of them precovid and will end up being again by next summer.

AA re-adding MCI-LAX nonstop service is a possibility with the recent adds that AA has made out of MCI such as the recent resumption of AA MCI-LGA nonstop service and AA recently adding MCI-AUS nonstop service.

jplatts wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

tphuang wrote:

AA 22%

AA ahead of DL surprises me a bit but I guess thru all of covid DL has pulled back more. I would assume DL was quite a bit ahead of them precovid and will end up being again by next summer.

AA re-adding MCI-LAX nonstop service is a possibility with the recent adds that AA has made out of MCI such as the recent resumption of AA MCI-LGA nonstop service and AA recently adding MCI-AUS nonstop service.

They could but they also might not want to be the 4th airline on that route.

Jshank83 wrote:

AA ahead of DL surprises me a bit but I guess thru all of covid DL has pulled back more. I would assume DL was quite a bit ahead of them precovid and will end up being again by next summer.

Doesn't really surprise me so much as DFW/ORD/PHX probably have decent frequencies and probably more O&D demand than ATL/MSP/SLC with CLT(AA) and DTW(DL) probably about even. I could be wrong of course as I don't have any hard numbers in front of me. What will be interesting to me going forward is if WN schedules MCI as a smaller version of STL once the new terminal opens. Being surrounded by existing WN stations such as MDW/STL/DEN/DAL if WN feels the need to bank a few flights for connections or if connections will just organically happen.

OzarkD9S wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

AA ahead of DL surprises me a bit but I guess thru all of covid DL has pulled back more. I would assume DL was quite a bit ahead of them precovid and will end up being again by next summer.

Doesn't really surprise me so much as DFW/ORD/PHX probably have decent frequencies and probably more O&D demand than ATL/MSP/SLC with CLT(AA) and DTW(DL) probably about even. I could be wrong of course as I don't have any hard numbers in front of me. What will be interesting to me going forward is if WN schedules MCI as a smaller version of STL once the new terminal opens. Being surrounded by existing WN stations such as MDW/STL/DEN/DAL if WN feels the need to bank a few flights for connections or if connections will just organically happen.

I've always thought the new terminal would make a good place for DL to set up a focus city, JetBlue to a lesser extent. One reason being because DL has a decent map from it already but also because of like you mention it is pretty locked all around by WN stations.

I agree on your O&D thoughts (DFW/ORD/PHX over ATL/MSP/SLC) but since DL had LAX/NYC and AA didn't until a couple months ago with LGA, I figured those 2 big factors really pushed it in DLs favor. Business travelers aren't going to connect to NYC and LAX. SEA/BOS help DL also. So I figured they were getting more premium money.

Run A220s from smaller cities (Omaha, Des Moines, Little Rock, OKC) to MCI at 6 or 7am to KC. MCI to hubs at 8am.

KC city council was in favor of the Sky Club lease at today’s council meeting. So I guess it is going forward in the new airport.

kavok wrote:

KC city council was in favor of the Sky Club lease at today’s council meeting. So I guess it is going forward in the new airport.

As a new platinum DL card holder, nothing would make me happier than to see a Sky Club here at home.

-Rowen

strangeplanes wrote:

Run A220s from smaller cities (Omaha, Des Moines, Little Rock, OKC) to MCI at 6 or 7am to KC. MCI to hubs at 8am.

Why would passengers connect at MCI to DL hubs when they can just take nonstops to the hubs directly?

I don’t really see how a MCI focus city would fit into DL’s network. It would work far better as a hub/focus city for someone like Breeze or JetBlue who don’t have many/any interior hubs/focus cities.

Polot wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

Supposedly an 11k sqft sky team lounge is in the works. No official announcement yet and not sure if it will be the only premium lounge or if it’s in conjunction with a general use facility. If it turns out to be true, should certainly help grease the wheels for DL to add a long haul flight.

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Why would DL add long haul from MCI now if they didn't do it before COVID?

Midwestindy wrote:

Polot wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

Supposedly an 11k sqft sky team lounge is in the works. No official announcement yet and not sure if it will be the only premium lounge or if it’s in conjunction with a general use facility. If it turns out to be true, should certainly help grease the wheels for DL to add a long haul flight.

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Why would DL add long haul from MCI now if they didn't do it before COVID?

MCI did not really have the facilities to support widebody international flights. The facilities checked none of the boxes traditional carriers look for.

Polot wrote:

strangeplanes wrote:

Run A220s from smaller cities (Omaha, Des Moines, Little Rock, OKC) to MCI at 6 or 7am to KC. MCI to hubs at 8am.

Why would passengers connect at MCI to DL hubs when they can just take nonstops to the hubs directly?

I don’t really see how a MCI focus city would fit into DL’s network. It would work far better as a hub/focus city for someone like Breeze or JetBlue who don’t have many/any interior hubs/focus cities.

I agree Jetblue could make sense for a focus city or interior hub.

tphuang wrote:

since there is a question of who the largest legacy is. Here is local domestic revenue for Q2 out of MCI
WN 44%
AA 22%
DL 18%
UA 9%

It will be disappointing (mostly from my selfish perspective) if the only lounge is a SkyClub based on the above numbers. Add in AS and B6's flights, AA associated pax will be pretty far ahead of DL or UA. Hopefully the SkyClub is just A lounge here instead of THE lounge here.. does anyone know if there was space set aside for more than one?

QXorVX wrote:

tphuang wrote:

since there is a question of who the largest legacy is. Here is local domestic revenue for Q2 out of MCI
WN 44%
AA 22%
DL 18%
UA 9%

It will be disappointing (mostly from my selfish perspective) if the only lounge is a SkyClub based on the above numbers. Add in AS and B6's flights, AA associated pax will be pretty far ahead of DL or UA. Hopefully the SkyClub is just A lounge here instead of THE lounge here.. does anyone know if there was space set aside for more than one?

I would personally be surprised if there isn't an unaffiliated lounge. The Club type thing.

strangeplanes wrote:

Polot wrote:

strangeplanes wrote:

Run A220s from smaller cities (Omaha, Des Moines, Little Rock, OKC) to MCI at 6 or 7am to KC. MCI to hubs at 8am.

Why would passengers connect at MCI to DL hubs when they can just take nonstops to the hubs directly?

I don’t really see how a MCI focus city would fit into DL’s network. It would work far better as a hub/focus city for someone like Breeze or JetBlue who don’t have many/any interior hubs/focus cities.

I agree Jetblue could make sense for a focus city or interior hub.

The problem is JetBlue’s planes and people are all tied up with east coast expansion. As discussed in other threads, they’ve put off further Florida expansion trying to handle that. Maybe a discussion a few years down the road, but right now they lack the aircraft and people to spare for such an endeavor.

CRJ200flyer wrote:

strangeplanes wrote:

Polot wrote:

Why would passengers connect at MCI to DL hubs when they can just take nonstops to the hubs directly?

I don’t really see how a MCI focus city would fit into DL’s network. It would work far better as a hub/focus city for someone like Breeze or JetBlue who don’t have many/any interior hubs/focus cities.

I agree Jetblue could make sense for a focus city or interior hub.

The problem is JetBlue’s planes and people are all tied up with east coast expansion. As discussed in other threads, they’ve put off further Florida expansion trying to handle that. Maybe a discussion a few years down the road, but right now they lack the aircraft and people to spare for such an endeavor.

Both MCI and STL have effectively become WN bastions and are not really high growth metros. I can't really see B6 coming into such an environment and trying to build a focus city. B6 is more focused on O&D traffic and less on simply connecting people. Simply having a nice geographic location is not that compelling of a reason to start a hub/focus city any more. The legacies have also moved more in this direction which is a big reason why there are no longer legacy hubs in PIT, CLE, CVG, MEM, and STL. BNA is also a WN bastion but is also high growth. However, it will still likely be a challenge for anyone to come in there and go up against WN. DL had declared BNA and SJC to be focus cities pre-Covid, but has since backed off and dropped them from their focus city designations. DL continues to make noise about AUS being a focus city, but hasn't really done anything there as all their flights are still to other DL hubs and focus cities.

strangeplanes wrote:

Midwestindy wrote:

Polot wrote:

Wouldn’t really hold my breath for that anytime soon. LHR/AMS/CDG is too long for the 757 and I don’t see DL committing their shrinking 763 fleet for a flight from MCI. A330 is definitely too large.

I believe DL is MCI’s second largest airline after WN. They are plenty busy enough for a sky club just from their domestic ops.

Why would DL add long haul from MCI now if they didn't do it before COVID?

MCI did not really have the facilities to support widebody international flights. The facilities checked none of the boxes traditional carriers look for.

In terms of what traditional carriers look for, facilities are very close to the bottom. Facilities come into play if the runway is too short, don't have customs/FIS/etc, or something like that. Again though it's really about what demand exists for a flight.

I asked the question because DL has fewer widebodies than it did pre-covid, and a number of DL's former non-hub TATL routes (IND-CDG, MCO-AMS, TPA-AMS) are no longer seeing flights as a result, all of which have historically been larger DL stations. So, at the very least MCI would need to leapfrog those destinations, and I don't see DL taking the risk of a brand new non-hub flight when they have fewer aircraft to spare.

Midwestindy wrote:

strangeplanes wrote:

Midwestindy wrote:

Why would DL add long haul from MCI now if they didn't do it before COVID?

MCI did not really have the facilities to support widebody international flights. The facilities checked none of the boxes traditional carriers look for.

In terms of what traditional carriers look for, facilities are very close to the bottom. Facilities come into play if the runway is too short, don't have customs/FIS/etc, or something like that. Again though it's really about what demand exists for a flight.

I asked the question because DL has fewer widebodies than it did pre-covid, and a number of DL's former non-hub TATL routes (IND-CDG, MCO-AMS, TPA-AMS) are no longer seeing flights as a result, all of which have historically been larger DL stations. So, at the very least MCI would need to leapfrog those destinations, and I don't see DL taking the risk of a brand new non-hub flight when they have fewer aircraft to spare.

I agree. To expand further, DLs current/planned widebody fleet makes it difficult. Their smallest sized widebody frames (763) are set to be retired in 2025, and the on order A339s and A359s are obviously way too large for MCI-CDG/AMS. I guess it is possible an older A332/A333 or 764 could be used, but again those older and smaller wide bodies are in short supply, making the opportunity cost of where to use them very high for DL.

That being said, by the time the new MCI opens, I would guess MCO/TPA will both have service again on DL or KL. IND might come back too, unless BA jumps in sooner. But until DL expands their “smaller widebody” fleet somehow, I think MCI will be an uphill battle. Not impossible, but also not likely either without some incentives.

Here are the number of passengers, number of seats, and load factors for WN flights out of MCI in August 2021:
ATL-MCI - 12669 passengers, 15732 seats, 80.53% load factor
AUS-MCI - 7800 passengers, 9282 seats, 84.03% load factor
BNA-MCI - 23451 passengers, 26781 seats, 87.57% load factor
BWI-MCI - 14909 passengers, 17042 seats, 87.48% load factor
CHS-MCI - 616 passengers, 1001 seats, 61.54% load factor
DAL-MCI - 29293 passengers, 36970 seats, 79.23% load factor
DEN-MCI - 34410 passengers, 41678 seats, 82.56% load factor
ECP-MCI - 4488 passengers, 6136 seats, 73.14% load factor
FLL-MCI - 6320 passengers, 10716 seats, 58.98% load factor
HOU-MCI - 8616 passengers, 9867 seats, 87.32% load factor
LAS-MCI - 27322 passengers, 33423 seats, 81.75% load factor
LAX-MCI - 7580 passengers, 8251 seats, 91.87% load factor
MCI-MCO - 20210 passengers, 28975 seats, 69.75% load factor
MCI-MDW - 33219 passengers, 39518 seats, 84.06% load factor
MCI-MIA - 614 passengers, 1144 seats, 53.67% load factor
MCI-MYR - 1789 passengers, 2559 seats, 69.91% load factor
MCI-OAK - 8744 passengers, 9489 seats, 92.15% load factor
MCI-PDX - 1052 passengers, 1144 seats, 91.96% load factor
MCI-PHX - 23324 passengers, 29570 seats, 78.88% load factor
MCI-PNS - 6203 passengers, 8407 seats, 73.78% load factor
MCI-RSW - 5728 passengers, 10599 seats, 54.04% load factor
MCI-SAN - 7067 passengers, 8076 seats, 87.51% load factor
MCI-SAT - 1276 passengers, 1590 seats, 80.25% load factor
MCI-SEA - 1046 passengers, 1144 seats, 91.43% load factor
MCI-SNA - 7434 passengers, 8723 seats, 85.22% load factor
MCI-SRQ - 548 passengers, 1144 seats, 47.90% load factor
MCI-STL - 14182 passengers, 18122 seats, 78.26% load factor
MCI-TPA - 10461 passengers, 15072 seats, 69.41% load factor
MCI-VPS - 1015 passengers, 1430 seats, 70.98% load factor

Delta will go on the defensive against B6 and will launch all mainline flights to BOS beginning June 6th with 3x daily A220 service.

trexel94 wrote:

Delta will go on the defensive against B6 and will launch all mainline flights to BOS beginning June 6th with 3x daily A220 service.

I wouldn't really trust DL schedule that far out as they are still doing fairly drastic changes to schedules as flights get closer (they typically don't really solidify their schedules for a month until 6-8 weeks before the start of the month). As an example, CVG-ORD/DFW flights were originally scheduled to resume back in September, but they have pushed back the restart dates on these flights several times and they are now not scheduled to restart until June 6th (the start of the June schedule). CVG-RDU/PHL were also scheduled to restart, but have now been removed completely from schedule.

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... lease.html

Article on the new lounge.

trexel94 wrote:

Delta will go on the defensive against B6 and will launch all mainline flights to BOS beginning June 6th with 3x daily A220 service.

There is no way this route can support that amount of seats. I have operated this flight multiple times and I can count on one hand how many times it has been full, and that's on a 175.

LGA on the 220? Sure, I could see that (as much as I'd hate to see it). But BOS 3x daily?! Hell no.

I'm surprised Delta didn't get back into the MCI Skyclub game sooner. The Royals bar where the Skyclub was in Terminal B is okay but certainly missed that quiet spot. If it'll be the only club in the new terminal that'll be a game changer.

More MCI-BOS flights can definitely work, it was always on/off and had to connect via DTW.

Eastern Air will convert pax 777's to cargo at KCI's Overhaul Base.

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... -city.html