Good article about airline terminals

It's understandable that the mainstream media doesn't run a lot of stuff about airport terminal design. Why worry about that when we're all wondering who will finally be Kelly's permanent replacement for Regis Philbin?

But once in awhile, you get something surprisingly thorough. In this case, it's a good piece with national scope by Curtis Tate, a reporter for the McClatchy Newspaper group that I found on the Web site of the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune.

U.S. Airport Terminals Upgrade to First Class

One thing I didn't realize was that Kansas City is planning to somehow integrate its three curving terminals into one facility. Good luck with that! But a quick search found a good Kansas City star piece from 2011 about the whole issue:

Like It Or Not, KCI Needs To Change

While they're at it, they should do something about the MCI / KCI confusion that plagues this airport. The FAA code is MCI, for 'Mid-Continent International.' But everywhere else, it's KCI, for obvious reasons: highway signs, map, the airport itself. It's not a life-or-death issue, but it offends the anal-retentive geek in me.

The article speaks of building a completely new terminal "to the south" while the existing complex continues to operate. I had a hard time visualizing this, but then I found this diagram from the KCI (not MCI?) Master Plan.

I think the layout of the terminal and gate piers is just sketched in to put something in there, as they're still years away from hiring an architect. Anyway, must be nice to have so much open land around to use! (Compare that to the cramped conditions of so many other airports, hemmed in by development.)

Also in Kansas (getting back to the McClatchy article), it's great to hear in the McClatchy piece that Wichita is going forward with a new terminal. I visited the current terminal this spring and it had all the presence and character of a junior high cafeteria.

On another note: Things have been a bit slow on this blog over the summer, but that's about to change, with visits to Dallas, Denver, and other airports in the offing. Plus I'll fill in the gaps with some visits to airports in my own corner of the world, New England, including Portland, Maine; Providence, R.I.; Hartford, Conn.; and Burlington, Vt.

Fasten your seat belts!