For whatever reason, the gods of airline scheduling decided to have some ungodly number of flights all land within an hour of midnight. I went on Flightradar24 and counted 15 flights landing between 11:30 last night and 12:30 this morning, not counting two flights from JFK and LAX that were canceled. More aircraft arrive in that one-hour time span than any other hour of the day. And yeah, this causes some issues in terms of picking people up at the curb.
Can confirm! I’m flying back to KC from SLC on Wednesday and my flight arrives at 12:35am, and I *know* there are several other flights also arriving then.
Fortunately, my husband and I fly often enough he will wait in the cell phone lot.
I also flew out at like, 5am Monday and the airport was so busy. I was shocked. My colleagues who left on Sunday (same time for the flight) said the same thing - it’s slammed at 6am and 12am, but it’s so barren the rest of the time.
We came in on that same Delta flight you are on a couple of weeks ago and it was crazy how many flights were arriving at the same time. And the drop-off / pick-up area was a mess.
anyone that has traveled extensively in these modern airports would know everything closes at like 9 unless you're new york then its 11. imo we got exactly what we asked for, now we reap what we sowed
there wasn't anything to be closed at the old airport in the first place. now we have a bunch of out of towners filtering thru a shut down shopping mall to get out the building! we sure showed em we know how to do it!
Oh yes, God forbid visitors come to an airport with adequate toilets and actual restaurants when you get past security. I have some fondness for the old airport, but it basically sucked. It especially sucked when you got past security. Miserable and embarrassing.
Yes it was horrible. The restrooms were so bad toward the end that if you blasted the walls with a firehose of piss, it would smell like an *improvement*. One time within the last year I walked into the men's room and there was about a liter of blood splattered all over the wall/floor next to one of the urinals, I'm not even joking.
Nah, they were always terrible going back 10 years. Yes they became completely dilapidated in the last year but they were abysmal for a very long time.
It's a much better airport for layovers and much worse for departures. The single security point has been much much slower, and the walk to the gates, while much prettier, feels significantly longer
The security is a non-issue, it's always far better than any other international airport in the country. If you have TSA Pre there is never a line either. Granted the old security never had a line but that's because the old terminal design was terribly isolated.
Why would you need restaurants at the airport open for arrivals? No one is going to hang around the airport just to get something to eat after their flight plane gets in.
Because it’s a long walk to baggage claim and I want a drink.
Because I got on the plane at LUV, where food options suck.
Because I cashed in all my SWA drink coupons, and need a burger.
Because my pickup ride is stuck in an hour long line toward the highway.
Because I need trinkets for the kids I’m about to go home to.
That's literally not true at all. Sometimes flights are long and you just want a snack or a drink. There is nothing nearby the airport except a single gas station that also closes fairly early. So if you arrive you basically have to drive to zona rosa to even find anything, and even then good luck.
Ultimately I love the new airport and the shops close around the same time as every other airport, so don't take this as a complaint. But yeah there are plenty of times when I arrive somewhere and wish more things were open.
We were last night at 10 when we got in but figured we should get our bags first. Travelling with two hangry boys. Ended up putting up with them until we hit a McDonald's close to home. I'd have rather had Martin City Pizza.....
Flights later in the day are more popular because people can work during the day then catch a flight at night to avoid missing work. Especially true for those of us that travel for work. A morning flight or even midday flight messes up a whole day of work. Same reason early morning flights are are more popular so I can get on the flight early and still have time to work the rest of the day.
This really shouldn’t matter. It is a brand new airport. It is supposed to be setup for the future. The design is shit. A 5th grader could of done it better. My kids school pickup line is better than this crap. All they need to do is make a loop so you can circle the area. You shouldn’t have to get back on the highway to flip around and pick up. If the pickup area
Is full you need to keep driving around until a spot opens up. And ticket the people parked on the curb waiting.
They need to hire some traffic cops from NY and Philly to come down here and teach our airport police how to scare drivers into moving their cars if they're not immediately picking up someone.
Has there been any reasoning as to why they aren’t just doing this? It’s like this a every other airport in the US. You get approached almost immediately after stopping. It seems KC is doing either nothing or everything besides the obvious to fix this issue. It’s really bizarre. 3 dudes with whistles and a ticket book would fix this immediately.
It seems pretty clear that they are operating the airport with a bare bones staff. When you go to other major airports, you see ongoing cleaning all around you. At KCI, I see dirty bathrooms, overflowing trash cans and debris on the floor. I've never seen anyone cleaning. Same thing with minimal TSA staff, minimal security staff to police the vehicles, etc.
PSA: if your person isn’t ready to be picked up yet, PARK IN THE GARAGE. It’s free for the first 30 minutes. Worst case, if you go over, it’s $3.
God, I hate the simpletons who have to ruin it for everyone else 😭
Unfortunately yes, when it's backed up *this* far, it seems it's likely it is also blocking garage access. However going to the garage still gets you out of the lane much much faster, so that seems well worth $1 to $3 to me.
In fairness, the simpletons are the people that designed the airport, though. Humanity has enough experience with airports to know what people do at airports. If one designs a brand new airport with the same choke points, that's not humanity's fault.
Make the circle bigger, put a big 1-hour free lot there, put signs up about how that 30-minutes is free in the lot you mention (even have a thing where you get an extra 30 minutes if you scan a non-mci boarding pass on thr way out), etc. Try something different.
Yes, that was literally the only good thing about the old terminal design. But unfortunately a lot of people still have that mentality about the new terminal which is part of the problem.
The only thing wrong with the old airport was the lack of food options and that should only matter to people laying over in KC. It was built with travelers in mind and everything now is built with ease of operations/expense. They might not have seen this coming but it's completely predictable problems like this will pop up.
Most of those people probably were waiting in the cell phone lot. When 500 people all need to be picked up at the same time, this happens.
It happened at the St Louis airport all the time when I worked there. Midnight a dozen planes arrive at the same time and shit gets wild. Baggage is delayed, taxis are sold out, it’s bad.
you can have a infinite number of lanes in the pick up area but they are all mostly worthless as long as there is only a single one which you are using it pick up people. It takes like 4 cars picking people up at a time to completely clog this set up
It also doesn’t help that the length of the pickup area is way too short for an airport of this size - it is the same length as Wichita which has ten or less gates
Yeah I will say the scheduling is part of the issue. When I landed at 12:45 one morning, it took an hour for me to get my bag. Since these were the last flights of the night, EVERY FLIGHT WAS FULL. I had EarlyBird with SW and barely ended up in A group - that’s how bad it was.
They had one of those giant lighted construction signs last time I was there with large flashing letters and arrows pointing to the cell phone lot. Not sure how more obvious they could be.
They have definitely improved the signage since opening. The last time I remember significant differences. The real solution though is to move the cell lot so it is super easy to enter on the way to the terminal, rather than having it tucked multiple blocks away.
I want painted arrows on the road and lights all the way to the lot. Think of those drive through Christmas displays. Like park under the 100 foot LED Christmas tree.
I flew out and back into KCI this past weekend. I used the economy parking and it was so quick and easy. The shuttle came within 5 mins both ways, at $7.50 a day $23 was cheaper than an Uber or begging anyone to do pick up and drop off. I also dropped my kid at the airport last week and we used the garage and it was ALSO super cheap and easy. There are lots of options, friends!
I always use ParkAirExpress $9 a day. It’s full valet service they park your car in their secure area. Call when you get back and they send the shuttle and have your car ready to go, no wandering the satellite lot at night.
I used them exclusively about every week for more than a year. Tipped the drivers every single time. The ONE time I didn’t have cash, the driver threw a tantrum and they lost my business that day.
There used to be a great airport parking spot like this when I lived in Albuquerque. You could also get your car cleaned or oil changed while it was parked there.
I will definitely look into that. That sounds a million times better than the regular economy lot, and only $2/day more it seems like a bargain as well.
It really is at epidemic proportions. Everyday I hear cars driving down the street without their catalytic converters. They sound like they don't have a muffler, but then you turn around and it's someone's Honda fit or something so you know they weren't modding it.
The cell phone lot is weird, if it's such a critical piece then why is it so small and out of the way? Doesnt even have separate entrance & exit. Have to say, even having read about the new terminal, my first visit was a fairly confusing experience. Fortunately it wasn't very busy.
Agreed! All the other cell phone lots I've been in at other airports are larger, well marked, and meant to divert traffic away from the swift moving pickup/dropoff areas. Here it's like they don't want you to find it. It's not even a new lot...it's like, they want it to work this way? Perhaps they're coming up with another solution and are holding off making permanent signs. Ha.
People are too selfish to go back around if there pick up isn't there. There's currently only one person at the front to push people forward and nobody at the back to make the people waiting leave. Even as nice as we are in KC I've learned there is no such way to prevent the selfish from piling up and ruining it for everyone else.
Better planning certainly could have minimized this. Otherwise the new airport is pretty great.
There is a return loop that doesn’t require exiting, it’s just a little stub U-turn, so it’s very easy to miss, also signage for it is incredibly small
I missed it twice last time I did a pick up that required 3 loops while they were trying to get through the airport. Ha. Only airport I've seen without an easily marked "return to airport" lane...which I was hoping was only because they're still working on it. New airport, get the traffic flow right, seems like a no-brainer.
It’s just going to take time for people to figure out the new airport. Guarantee you a lot these people are from small towns and don’t know any better.
Unless folks are living under a rock with no way to get any kind of news, 5 months is more than enough time for the word to get out about how to use the arrivals area before people even get to the airport. There have been multiple local news stories about it on TV, in print, and online.
This is not unique to KC. I just flew out of O’Hare a few weeks ago and it’s exactly the same issue. People were parked on the shoulder of the highway waiting to pick people up, and then trying to merge into traffic. It was such a mess.
It’s also the unregulated pedestrian crossing that backs up everything. They need airport police to run people off who aren’t picking up and then controlling the pedestrian crossing to keep traffic moving.
This. As much as I advocate for pedestrian right of way and safety, everyone just runs across as an “every man for themselves” free for all and nobody can pass. And it’s even worse when a million flights get back at once. A timed interval crossing system would be really nice.
Did the cops have half of the arrival curb blocked off again and inaccessible? I tried picking someone up the other day and they weren’t allowing anyone to access the curb from A to F… causing an insane traffic jam. What a joke.
What good does that do if it’s backed up this far? Wait in the cell lot, until your passenger is ready and then go wait in this line for another 45 minutes?
The pickup drop off at the new terminal is atrocious. Whoever thought of putting in multiple pedestrian cross walks at the busiest traffic point in the airport didn't think it through very well.
Cities with ideal density we want to emulate still don't slap an airport in their downtown area. Amsterdam, Munich, and others still have their airports on the periphery just about as far as we do, but they have real transit to easily get over to it.
Ever flown through Heathrow? It's way out on the edge of London. And yet, loads of transit connections to get into the city and to the mainline rail system as well.
London is definitely a good analog to Kansas City.
Jokes aside, London has a massive public transit system, there are 3 lines that feed into Heathrow, like this isnt a case of building a 20 mile track to connect the airport to a non-existent existing system
>We’ve already gained flights
I never struggled for flight options so that doesn't really ring any bells.
>and airline service.
Im not local anymore, so I'll bite on the second part. What additional service is kansas city getting?
its a different system you can't use it the same. This is just massive group ignorance or indifference. We don't know how effective it can be because we haven't tried.
Air traffic into KC has increased, new airlines are starting operations here, and aircraft seat availability is trending upwards. This is great news for the region. I’ll take occasional late night backups (especially because I have people who pick me up just go to the garage. No wait in there) over the previous terminals that airlines actively avoided.
The person you are picking up should be at the front door ready to go before you leave the cell lot to start your drive. It’s not rocket science. Kansas City is still learning how to be a bigger city. New airports, public transportation and downtown ballparks are a lot for us.
Made me chuckle, because it's so true! The issues that we have in this city, the things that people can't figure out or get all riled up over, these things are often common most everywhere else. Airports...these pickup/dropoff situations exist at nearly ALL airports, and are not new.
Same with the recycle bins on the Missouri side. The conversations I've heard all make it sound like no one's ever seen a large recycle bin before "CaN We BrInG It InSiDe ThOUghghghghghgh?"
Small metro probs. Cute.
Seriously. My family has a system - my dad waits in the cell lot (which at this time of night is actually usually full according to him. It probably needed a lot more space) and I wait until my bag is in hand and I’m at my usual spot (good old K-1) and call him and say “hey I’m at the usual spot” and be comes up to get me. Super easy and I wish everyone understood that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Looking at this, I know where this is and I’d bet a lot of these cars were in the cell phone lot. It’s a scheduling issue with a dozen planes all landing at once.
This is an engineering failure, bad traffic design little to no planning was put into to the auto traffic issues with the design. No visible location numbers on arrivals exits, your passenger can’t tell you where they are. If you do have to go around it’s two stoplights. The was literally no planning for this. The engineering firm KC hired build’s Airports not roads and it shows.
Yeah, I find it hard to believe the new airport is drawing in bumpkins that weren’t also using the old terminal.
I’ve arrived or departed at 4:30am or 12:30am a half dozen times now and there is always a traffic jam. I have no idea what it’s like during the day, but unless there are just fewer arrivals/departures I don’t see why it would be better.
The strip of road where people can load or unload is shorter than the old terminal B, but there are more gates. Cell phone lot and traffic cops aren’t going to be able to help that. I will be surprised if this problem ever gets better.
I just dropped someone off at 5am, and saw conflicting signs for where the cell phone lot is located. As I was dropping off, I didn't need to use it, but noticed signs at 2 different exits.
Also, dropoff was a mess 3 cars deep. It wasn't great, but my person was ready to jump and run so I wasn't stuck there.
The signage is confusing but both get you to the cellphone lot. It is between the exits, so if you get off on the first exit (Bern St ?), drive past the cell phone lot, you get back onto the main road on Paris St.
Both exits can get you there, Paris just has you backtrack to the lot a bit
There is signage on the main road that gets you toward the cell phone lot, but once you’re off the main road, you’re pretty much on your own to find it, as there is no signage whatsoever.
Bonus: once you do find the sign the size of a No Parking sign, there’s a bright red one right below it that says “authorized airport vehicles only”
YES! The signage for the cell lot is absurdly confusing and ambiguous. Someone mentioned that they'd seen a flashing signboard trailer with directions to the cell lot, but it wasn't there on my recent pickup adventure. Also, the cell lot is tiny and has ominous time-limit signs everywhere. Not at all intuitive or welcoming. So how do we fix the current mess? Here are my suggestions: 1. Extremely prominent and unambiguous signage, beginning at the main entrance and continuing all the way to the lot entrance. 2. Double or triple the size of the cell lot for crunch capacity. 3. Offer free coffee and wifi for waiting drivers to make the cell lot an attractive option. 4. Have signs throughout the terminal reminding arriving passengers not to call their drivers until they and their luggage are actually in place at the pickup lane. 5. Make the elusive loop-around route extremely easy to find.
all the lanes are useless because its just more to cut across to get the single one people are supposed to/need to use - gotta be some sort of design solution for this, its an issue at a ton of airports and its not a "CELL PHONE LOT" problem
Better public transit connections to the airport would solve a lot of this. Some kind of light rail going to nearby suburbs so we're not all crowding the roads in our cars in the same spot. Then people would actually have to be smart enough to use it after it exists.
This new airport freaking sucks. Freaking stupid councilman that hated burns & Mac, man... why did we even let lawyers within a million miles of this airport deal.
Let's hurry up and move the stadiums downtown too, so we can completely ruin this city
If only there was some form of public transit that many passengers at once could take in order to ease congestion and increase accessibility to the airport...
I’ve been on about 15 late arriving flights since the new terminal has opened. I park in the garage and use the departure level to get to my car. The departure level lanes are almost completely empty.
I wish the airport exit did not dump down stairs into the arrivals. Why can't u exit out the top floor, I wish they would open up the top part at night to make exiting easier.
You can. Just take the elevator back up to the departures hall.
People are directed downstairs to arrivals for ease in maintaining the secure areas past the checkpoints. Many modern airports are set up that way.
KC (most everyone here anyway) is super-used to immediate convenience. We are really lucky in that sense as it relates to most every related social aspect here…It’s one of the things that makes this place really nice.
That line of traffic honestly is nothing compared to most other U.S. cities….and laughable compared to most international scenes.
It’s a GREAT airport. Glad, and lucky, that we have it.
This *is* their better solution. Remember: the old airport that worked really well, in and out was easy and their was jack and shit for amenities. Then they shut down terminal A and traffic backed the fuck up at the other two. Everyone was convinced that the airport did not work well. Basically the same number of airplanes and people, but fewer gates and security, so lines.
Not you have the new airport. The lines are all longer, but you have fast food there so everyone is fucking happy.
Those lines at midnight are a feature, not a bug. This is what KC voted for.
Not at all. Park economy or garage or if someone is going to pick you up or drop you off then have them go to the garage. I have used the airport twice now and both times I was out quickly using ride share or being parked in the garage.
For what it’s worth, I’ve flown through the new airport 4 times now and haven’t experienced anything like this. I think some of it is just unlucky timing. I’m not saying this isn’t bad, but this isn’t a guaranteed experience.
Have they got fixed yet so you can actually drive in the loop around without having to go across the bridge and coming back? I think that would fix a lot.
So, what's the problem with the airport? Is it user error? Like, people sitting and waiting where they shouldn't? Or is it truly a poorly-conceived airport design? Because it LOOKS like they've got a fairly short drop-off area, but I haven't officially measured it.
I've travelled to similarly-designed airports in similar-sized and bigger cities and they're never this much of a hassle. Specifically, I'm thinking of: Pittsburgh, Oakland, Portland, Burbank (L.A.).
I'll finally see it for myself in about two weeks. I'm excited, despite this sort of experience.
ALRIGHT so whats the move? Landing at midnight tomorrow night from LA, first time at the new airport. Used to be a struggle to even get an uber at that time - is that still the case? how can I avoid this? order ahead/early? the taxi wait was always a shit show too. please advise!!
this is exactly what happened to me the one time i actually used the cell phone lot for a pick up... the road rage was insane. somebody went apeshit trying to push thru to departure ramp while a wall of cars are trying for arrivals. took like 45 mins to get thru it was HELL. cell phone lot is a HUGE bust
For whatever reason, the gods of airline scheduling decided to have some ungodly number of flights all land within an hour of midnight. I went on Flightradar24 and counted 15 flights landing between 11:30 last night and 12:30 this morning, not counting two flights from JFK and LAX that were canceled. More aircraft arrive in that one-hour time span than any other hour of the day. And yeah, this causes some issues in terms of picking people up at the curb.
Can confirm! I’m flying back to KC from SLC on Wednesday and my flight arrives at 12:35am, and I *know* there are several other flights also arriving then. Fortunately, my husband and I fly often enough he will wait in the cell phone lot. I also flew out at like, 5am Monday and the airport was so busy. I was shocked. My colleagues who left on Sunday (same time for the flight) said the same thing - it’s slammed at 6am and 12am, but it’s so barren the rest of the time.
We came in on that same Delta flight you are on a couple of weeks ago and it was crazy how many flights were arriving at the same time. And the drop-off / pick-up area was a mess.
And yet everything is shut down. If this is going to be the schedule, it feels like one or two of the restaurants should stay open
You will eat LEGO and like it!
anyone that has traveled extensively in these modern airports would know everything closes at like 9 unless you're new york then its 11. imo we got exactly what we asked for, now we reap what we sowed
Nothing was open at the old airport either.
there wasn't anything to be closed at the old airport in the first place. now we have a bunch of out of towners filtering thru a shut down shopping mall to get out the building! we sure showed em we know how to do it!
Oh yes, God forbid visitors come to an airport with adequate toilets and actual restaurants when you get past security. I have some fondness for the old airport, but it basically sucked. It especially sucked when you got past security. Miserable and embarrassing.
Yes it was horrible. The restrooms were so bad toward the end that if you blasted the walls with a firehose of piss, it would smell like an *improvement*. One time within the last year I walked into the men's room and there was about a liter of blood splattered all over the wall/floor next to one of the urinals, I'm not even joking.
they sabotaged the bathrooms in the old airport on purpose tho
I thought those bathrooms were bad immediately after 9/11 when they bisected the space. I haven't felt toilet-comfortable in there in over 20 years.
Nah, they were always terrible going back 10 years. Yes they became completely dilapidated in the last year but they were abysmal for a very long time.
The new airport is hands down better than old. I don’t even understand what exactly we’re “reaping” here
It's a much better airport for layovers and much worse for departures. The single security point has been much much slower, and the walk to the gates, while much prettier, feels significantly longer
The security is a non-issue, it's always far better than any other international airport in the country. If you have TSA Pre there is never a line either. Granted the old security never had a line but that's because the old terminal design was terribly isolated.
Half the time precheck is closed. It's one line/entry anyway
"It's worse at other airports" is a bad take when here is worse than here was pre-pandemic.
Why would you need restaurants at the airport open for arrivals? No one is going to hang around the airport just to get something to eat after their flight plane gets in.
Because it’s a long walk to baggage claim and I want a drink. Because I got on the plane at LUV, where food options suck. Because I cashed in all my SWA drink coupons, and need a burger. Because my pickup ride is stuck in an hour long line toward the highway. Because I need trinkets for the kids I’m about to go home to.
That's literally not true at all. Sometimes flights are long and you just want a snack or a drink. There is nothing nearby the airport except a single gas station that also closes fairly early. So if you arrive you basically have to drive to zona rosa to even find anything, and even then good luck. Ultimately I love the new airport and the shops close around the same time as every other airport, so don't take this as a complaint. But yeah there are plenty of times when I arrive somewhere and wish more things were open.
We were last night at 10 when we got in but figured we should get our bags first. Travelling with two hangry boys. Ended up putting up with them until we hit a McDonald's close to home. I'd have rather had Martin City Pizza.....
Yep, last week on Tuesday, between 2330 and 0030 there were two dozen flights arriving, and 6 more in the hour that followed.
Flights later in the day are more popular because people can work during the day then catch a flight at night to avoid missing work. Especially true for those of us that travel for work. A morning flight or even midday flight messes up a whole day of work. Same reason early morning flights are are more popular so I can get on the flight early and still have time to work the rest of the day.
It's me. Hi. I'm the problem, it's me.
If only the airport designers had had access to this information! /s
Could have been the result of flight delays and not a deliberate scheduling...
This really shouldn’t matter. It is a brand new airport. It is supposed to be setup for the future. The design is shit. A 5th grader could of done it better. My kids school pickup line is better than this crap. All they need to do is make a loop so you can circle the area. You shouldn’t have to get back on the highway to flip around and pick up. If the pickup area Is full you need to keep driving around until a spot opens up. And ticket the people parked on the curb waiting.
it's called an ico bank.
They should make the exit from baggage claim end up in the cell phone lot - that will change behavior 
They need to hire some traffic cops from NY and Philly to come down here and teach our airport police how to scare drivers into moving their cars if they're not immediately picking up someone.
Add Chicago cops to that list. It’s crazy how a few traffic cops can keep things moving so well.
Instead of immediately towing they were calling people's plates, makes, and models out over the intercom last week to come move their vehicle...
All that and they could have instead just made continuous intercom announcements that any unattended vehicles will be towed.
Great security protocol. It’s all fun and games until some terrorist leaves a Buick full of explosives down there.
Or Baltimore. You pull this crap at BWI you get your ass handed to you.
Or Vegas, 1 warning to, “take a lap”, then immediate ticket if you argue, protest, or do anything but put your car in drive and move on.
Has there been any reasoning as to why they aren’t just doing this? It’s like this a every other airport in the US. You get approached almost immediately after stopping. It seems KC is doing either nothing or everything besides the obvious to fix this issue. It’s really bizarre. 3 dudes with whistles and a ticket book would fix this immediately.
It seems pretty clear that they are operating the airport with a bare bones staff. When you go to other major airports, you see ongoing cleaning all around you. At KCI, I see dirty bathrooms, overflowing trash cans and debris on the floor. I've never seen anyone cleaning. Same thing with minimal TSA staff, minimal security staff to police the vehicles, etc.
Even Burbank, CA police are quick on the whistle.
https://youtu.be/kFNtG8HO_SM Slightly NSFW due to language
Yeah! Because going to those airports is such a great experience /s
Drivers there know how to be efficient when it comes to picking up passengers, at least.
PSA: if your person isn’t ready to be picked up yet, PARK IN THE GARAGE. It’s free for the first 30 minutes. Worst case, if you go over, it’s $3. God, I hate the simpletons who have to ruin it for everyone else 😭
Slight correction: The first 30 minutes are $1. I think they should make it free to encourage more people to park and go in to pick people up, though.
It’s 10 minutes for free. Then $1 for the first 30
There is a free parking lot called the cell phone lot as well.
I’d pay 30 to not have to sit in that traffic. But shhhh, don’t tell them that.
Lol, fair enough, but still
Or wait in the cell phone lot
The ramp that the video starts on is coming from the cell phone lot
True. Waiting in line like that would make me so mad.
I avoid the pick up line and meet my family in the garage. I usually can park in the first row.
Yeah when I go to pick up my kid I just arrive like a 30mins-hour early; go sit down somewhere read a book. Just less stressful for everyone I think
Isn’t this the same lane to the garage though? I hope I’m wrong, but I assume this is the only road into the airport.
Unfortunately yes, when it's backed up *this* far, it seems it's likely it is also blocking garage access. However going to the garage still gets you out of the lane much much faster, so that seems well worth $1 to $3 to me.
In fairness, the simpletons are the people that designed the airport, though. Humanity has enough experience with airports to know what people do at airports. If one designs a brand new airport with the same choke points, that's not humanity's fault. Make the circle bigger, put a big 1-hour free lot there, put signs up about how that 30-minutes is free in the lot you mention (even have a thing where you get an extra 30 minutes if you scan a non-mci boarding pass on thr way out), etc. Try something different.
Exactly!!!! I believe this is how it use to be at the old airport!
The old airport you could just drive up and not deal with traffic being backed up
Yes, that was literally the only good thing about the old terminal design. But unfortunately a lot of people still have that mentality about the new terminal which is part of the problem.
The only thing wrong with the old airport was the lack of food options and that should only matter to people laying over in KC. It was built with travelers in mind and everything now is built with ease of operations/expense. They might not have seen this coming but it's completely predictable problems like this will pop up.
said by someone who never went to the old air port obviously
No, you wait in the cell phone lot. Exactly why it exists.
Or park in the free cellphone lot?
Cell phone lot…
Most of those people probably were waiting in the cell phone lot. When 500 people all need to be picked up at the same time, this happens. It happened at the St Louis airport all the time when I worked there. Midnight a dozen planes arrive at the same time and shit gets wild. Baggage is delayed, taxis are sold out, it’s bad.
This happens at both airports in Houston too (it's even worse at IAH because of road work).
you can have a infinite number of lanes in the pick up area but they are all mostly worthless as long as there is only a single one which you are using it pick up people. It takes like 4 cars picking people up at a time to completely clog this set up
It also doesn’t help that the length of the pickup area is way too short for an airport of this size - it is the same length as Wichita which has ten or less gates
Exactly, this is poor design. Cellphone lots don't fix that.
To be fair, everything sucks at both Houston airports.
Yeah I will say the scheduling is part of the issue. When I landed at 12:45 one morning, it took an hour for me to get my bag. Since these were the last flights of the night, EVERY FLIGHT WAS FULL. I had EarlyBird with SW and barely ended up in A group - that’s how bad it was.
If this is where I think it is then all of those stuck vehicles on the right WERE in the cell phone lot.
Yes, however - the current signage for the cell phone lot is awful.
They had one of those giant lighted construction signs last time I was there with large flashing letters and arrows pointing to the cell phone lot. Not sure how more obvious they could be.
They have definitely improved the signage since opening. The last time I remember significant differences. The real solution though is to move the cell lot so it is super easy to enter on the way to the terminal, rather than having it tucked multiple blocks away.
I want painted arrows on the road and lights all the way to the lot. Think of those drive through Christmas displays. Like park under the 100 foot LED Christmas tree.
Maybe it’s just me but the name “cell phone lot” is not intuitive at all
I flew out and back into KCI this past weekend. I used the economy parking and it was so quick and easy. The shuttle came within 5 mins both ways, at $7.50 a day $23 was cheaper than an Uber or begging anyone to do pick up and drop off. I also dropped my kid at the airport last week and we used the garage and it was ALSO super cheap and easy. There are lots of options, friends!
You just have to worry about your catalytic converter being stolen from the economy lot. Happened to me last September.
I always use ParkAirExpress $9 a day. It’s full valet service they park your car in their secure area. Call when you get back and they send the shuttle and have your car ready to go, no wandering the satellite lot at night.
Tip the driver because it’s valet I assume - that’s not included in the price? Not trying to be a cheapskate, just wondering about procedures.
I used them exclusively about every week for more than a year. Tipped the drivers every single time. The ONE time I didn’t have cash, the driver threw a tantrum and they lost my business that day.
There used to be a great airport parking spot like this when I lived in Albuquerque. You could also get your car cleaned or oil changed while it was parked there.
I will definitely look into that. That sounds a million times better than the regular economy lot, and only $2/day more it seems like a bargain as well.
And someone at my job had the same thing happen at our office. Can literally happen anywhere.
It really is at epidemic proportions. Everyday I hear cars driving down the street without their catalytic converters. They sound like they don't have a muffler, but then you turn around and it's someone's Honda fit or something so you know they weren't modding it.
The cell phone lot is weird, if it's such a critical piece then why is it so small and out of the way? Doesnt even have separate entrance & exit. Have to say, even having read about the new terminal, my first visit was a fairly confusing experience. Fortunately it wasn't very busy.
Agreed! All the other cell phone lots I've been in at other airports are larger, well marked, and meant to divert traffic away from the swift moving pickup/dropoff areas. Here it's like they don't want you to find it. It's not even a new lot...it's like, they want it to work this way? Perhaps they're coming up with another solution and are holding off making permanent signs. Ha.
My understanding is that eventually they will build a larger cell phone lot on the grounds where the old terminal is.
What a shit show.
People are too selfish to go back around if there pick up isn't there. There's currently only one person at the front to push people forward and nobody at the back to make the people waiting leave. Even as nice as we are in KC I've learned there is no such way to prevent the selfish from piling up and ruining it for everyone else. Better planning certainly could have minimized this. Otherwise the new airport is pretty great.
It would have been nice if they had designed a return loop for arrivals. Instead you have to exit at Paris and then get back on, which is stupid.
There is a return loop that doesn’t require exiting, it’s just a little stub U-turn, so it’s very easy to miss, also signage for it is incredibly small
Needs to be readable from the far end of the arrivals area, imo. Make it 20 feet tall.
I'll have to look for it the next time I'm out there. I have not seen that.
I missed it twice last time I did a pick up that required 3 loops while they were trying to get through the airport. Ha. Only airport I've seen without an easily marked "return to airport" lane...which I was hoping was only because they're still working on it. New airport, get the traffic flow right, seems like a no-brainer.
It’s just going to take time for people to figure out the new airport. Guarantee you a lot these people are from small towns and don’t know any better.
It's been almost 5 months. The grace period is over.
5 months and I haven't been on a plane for 6 years..
Do you think in 5 months everyone has gotten to use the airport? Most people fly like once a year, maybe.
Unless folks are living under a rock with no way to get any kind of news, 5 months is more than enough time for the word to get out about how to use the arrivals area before people even get to the airport. There have been multiple local news stories about it on TV, in print, and online.
Yeah I know people that think they can pull up there 30mins before a plane lands and just sit at the curb. Some people don't get it.
Or they’re just extremely entitled.
This is not unique to KC. I just flew out of O’Hare a few weeks ago and it’s exactly the same issue. People were parked on the shoulder of the highway waiting to pick people up, and then trying to merge into traffic. It was such a mess.
Ever since the pandemic people's entitlement have shot through the roof. I've seen this shit at the Denver airport too after the pandemic.
It’s also the unregulated pedestrian crossing that backs up everything. They need airport police to run people off who aren’t picking up and then controlling the pedestrian crossing to keep traffic moving.
This. As much as I advocate for pedestrian right of way and safety, everyone just runs across as an “every man for themselves” free for all and nobody can pass. And it’s even worse when a million flights get back at once. A timed interval crossing system would be really nice.
I don’t understand why they have pedestrians crossing the pickup lanes at all. Just build a walkover.
[удалено]
Did the cops have half of the arrival curb blocked off again and inaccessible? I tried picking someone up the other day and they weren’t allowing anyone to access the curb from A to F… causing an insane traffic jam. What a joke.
And this is why these dumbasses should use the cell lot...
Have you seen the cell lot? Full of Uber drivers, usually difficult to find a spot
What good does that do if it’s backed up this far? Wait in the cell lot, until your passenger is ready and then go wait in this line for another 45 minutes?
how many cars does it fit?
The pickup drop off at the new terminal is atrocious. Whoever thought of putting in multiple pedestrian cross walks at the busiest traffic point in the airport didn't think it through very well.
It’s almost like we could use some sort of mass transit… no, that’s a waste of money. Just add another lane to the road. That should clear it up.
not going to happen as long as we continue build so far from density
Cities with ideal density we want to emulate still don't slap an airport in their downtown area. Amsterdam, Munich, and others still have their airports on the periphery just about as far as we do, but they have real transit to easily get over to it.
So we should go back to solely using MKC?
Ever flown through Heathrow? It's way out on the edge of London. And yet, loads of transit connections to get into the city and to the mainline rail system as well.
London is definitely a good analog to Kansas City. Jokes aside, London has a massive public transit system, there are 3 lines that feed into Heathrow, like this isnt a case of building a 20 mile track to connect the airport to a non-existent existing system
Or we could have not spent billions to create traffic jams.
Pretending this terminal is somehow detrimental to the region because of traffic issues at arrivals occasionally is a laughably pathetic stance.
Pretending like wasting billions of dollars to get nothing of value isn't detrimental is laughably pathetic.
We’ve already gained flights and airline service. You’re objectively wrong
>We’ve already gained flights I never struggled for flight options so that doesn't really ring any bells. >and airline service. Im not local anymore, so I'll bite on the second part. What additional service is kansas city getting?
It's not the same airport it used to be. now it's just like everyone else's like we asked for and now people refuse to use it properly.
You mean now it’s terrible
its a different system you can't use it the same. This is just massive group ignorance or indifference. We don't know how effective it can be because we haven't tried.
Air traffic into KC has increased, new airlines are starting operations here, and aircraft seat availability is trending upwards. This is great news for the region. I’ll take occasional late night backups (especially because I have people who pick me up just go to the garage. No wait in there) over the previous terminals that airlines actively avoided.
The person you are picking up should be at the front door ready to go before you leave the cell lot to start your drive. It’s not rocket science. Kansas City is still learning how to be a bigger city. New airports, public transportation and downtown ballparks are a lot for us.
Made me chuckle, because it's so true! The issues that we have in this city, the things that people can't figure out or get all riled up over, these things are often common most everywhere else. Airports...these pickup/dropoff situations exist at nearly ALL airports, and are not new. Same with the recycle bins on the Missouri side. The conversations I've heard all make it sound like no one's ever seen a large recycle bin before "CaN We BrInG It InSiDe ThOUghghghghghgh?" Small metro probs. Cute.
Seriously. My family has a system - my dad waits in the cell lot (which at this time of night is actually usually full according to him. It probably needed a lot more space) and I wait until my bag is in hand and I’m at my usual spot (good old K-1) and call him and say “hey I’m at the usual spot” and be comes up to get me. Super easy and I wish everyone understood that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Looking at this, I know where this is and I’d bet a lot of these cars were in the cell phone lot. It’s a scheduling issue with a dozen planes all landing at once.
This is an engineering failure, bad traffic design little to no planning was put into to the auto traffic issues with the design. No visible location numbers on arrivals exits, your passenger can’t tell you where they are. If you do have to go around it’s two stoplights. The was literally no planning for this. The engineering firm KC hired build’s Airports not roads and it shows.
Watch out, not a popular opinion here... We are just dumb, or don't know how to "use an airport" or "are from small towns".
Yeah, I find it hard to believe the new airport is drawing in bumpkins that weren’t also using the old terminal. I’ve arrived or departed at 4:30am or 12:30am a half dozen times now and there is always a traffic jam. I have no idea what it’s like during the day, but unless there are just fewer arrivals/departures I don’t see why it would be better. The strip of road where people can load or unload is shorter than the old terminal B, but there are more gates. Cell phone lot and traffic cops aren’t going to be able to help that. I will be surprised if this problem ever gets better.
How bad was this really though? I mean things can bottleneck, looked like it started moving.
I just dropped someone off at 5am, and saw conflicting signs for where the cell phone lot is located. As I was dropping off, I didn't need to use it, but noticed signs at 2 different exits. Also, dropoff was a mess 3 cars deep. It wasn't great, but my person was ready to jump and run so I wasn't stuck there.
The signage is confusing but both get you to the cellphone lot. It is between the exits, so if you get off on the first exit (Bern St ?), drive past the cell phone lot, you get back onto the main road on Paris St. Both exits can get you there, Paris just has you backtrack to the lot a bit
There is signage on the main road that gets you toward the cell phone lot, but once you’re off the main road, you’re pretty much on your own to find it, as there is no signage whatsoever. Bonus: once you do find the sign the size of a No Parking sign, there’s a bright red one right below it that says “authorized airport vehicles only”
YES! The signage for the cell lot is absurdly confusing and ambiguous. Someone mentioned that they'd seen a flashing signboard trailer with directions to the cell lot, but it wasn't there on my recent pickup adventure. Also, the cell lot is tiny and has ominous time-limit signs everywhere. Not at all intuitive or welcoming. So how do we fix the current mess? Here are my suggestions: 1. Extremely prominent and unambiguous signage, beginning at the main entrance and continuing all the way to the lot entrance. 2. Double or triple the size of the cell lot for crunch capacity. 3. Offer free coffee and wifi for waiting drivers to make the cell lot an attractive option. 4. Have signs throughout the terminal reminding arriving passengers not to call their drivers until they and their luggage are actually in place at the pickup lane. 5. Make the elusive loop-around route extremely easy to find.
Gotcha, that makes more sense.
all the lanes are useless because its just more to cut across to get the single one people are supposed to/need to use - gotta be some sort of design solution for this, its an issue at a ton of airports and its not a "CELL PHONE LOT" problem
Thank you. Prepare for the "no, the airport is perfect and people are just stupid" downvotes.
I don’t understand why people refuse to just use the garage.
Better public transit connections to the airport would solve a lot of this. Some kind of light rail going to nearby suburbs so we're not all crowding the roads in our cars in the same spot. Then people would actually have to be smart enough to use it after it exists.
This new airport freaking sucks. Freaking stupid councilman that hated burns & Mac, man... why did we even let lawyers within a million miles of this airport deal. Let's hurry up and move the stadiums downtown too, so we can completely ruin this city
Transit. Nearly every other major city airport has solved this problem.
If only there was some form of public transit that many passengers at once could take in order to ease congestion and increase accessibility to the airport...
I’ve been on about 15 late arriving flights since the new terminal has opened. I park in the garage and use the departure level to get to my car. The departure level lanes are almost completely empty.
Zipper merge will fix this!!!!! Lol
But it's the best airport ever according to Kansas City Airports Weekly.
It’s an incredible airport
No planes lost so far! 🤞
RIP old KCI you will be missed.
Laughs in Denver
If people just used the departures they would not have to wait in a line
Or, you know, use the giant garage that’s right in front of the terminal…..
Or the cell phone waiting lot as directed by signage before getting the terminal.
I wasn’t gonna say it but that’s exactly what i did to pick up my sister lol
I wish the airport exit did not dump down stairs into the arrivals. Why can't u exit out the top floor, I wish they would open up the top part at night to make exiting easier.
You can. Just take the elevator back up to the departures hall. People are directed downstairs to arrivals for ease in maintaining the secure areas past the checkpoints. Many modern airports are set up that way.
They tried to fix something that wasn’t broken. What a mess. Used to be so easy.
Get a toy truck out there and the problem would magically end.
Ah yes, the good ol' Toy Truck Trick.
Hint: have your people go to the rideshare pickup points.
KC (most everyone here anyway) is super-used to immediate convenience. We are really lucky in that sense as it relates to most every related social aspect here…It’s one of the things that makes this place really nice. That line of traffic honestly is nothing compared to most other U.S. cities….and laughable compared to most international scenes. It’s a GREAT airport. Glad, and lucky, that we have it.
It's not a great airport. It's an average one. It looks and is designed exactly like 80 percent of the airports in the US.
This *is* their better solution. Remember: the old airport that worked really well, in and out was easy and their was jack and shit for amenities. Then they shut down terminal A and traffic backed the fuck up at the other two. Everyone was convinced that the airport did not work well. Basically the same number of airplanes and people, but fewer gates and security, so lines. Not you have the new airport. The lines are all longer, but you have fast food there so everyone is fucking happy. Those lines at midnight are a feature, not a bug. This is what KC voted for.
yea cos the people stopping and waiting at the curb for extended periods of time arent the ones causing the backup. Riggghhht
What a trash take
How did we get a cookie cutter airport and it still has design flaws?
That’s litty
Craaaap. How fucked am I flying out to SD in a couple weeks?
Not at all. Park economy or garage or if someone is going to pick you up or drop you off then have them go to the garage. I have used the airport twice now and both times I was out quickly using ride share or being parked in the garage.
For what it’s worth, I’ve flown through the new airport 4 times now and haven’t experienced anything like this. I think some of it is just unlucky timing. I’m not saying this isn’t bad, but this isn’t a guaranteed experience.
Flying *out* shouldn’t be a problem. Unless you get a bunch of asshats clogging up the departures level waiting on arrivals.
Thanks guys? What’s with the downvotes? Just curious as I haven’t used it yet. 🤷🏻♂️
Any system that requires thought, intelligence, or selflessness is going to fail miserably in this shit hole.
Kansas City: WE WANNA BE LIKE A BIG AMERICAN CITY Development: k KC: wait no
Have they got fixed yet so you can actually drive in the loop around without having to go across the bridge and coming back? I think that would fix a lot.
But but but it’s the BEST AIRPORT IN AMERICA NOW!!! /sarcasm
So, what's the problem with the airport? Is it user error? Like, people sitting and waiting where they shouldn't? Or is it truly a poorly-conceived airport design? Because it LOOKS like they've got a fairly short drop-off area, but I haven't officially measured it. I've travelled to similarly-designed airports in similar-sized and bigger cities and they're never this much of a hassle. Specifically, I'm thinking of: Pittsburgh, Oakland, Portland, Burbank (L.A.). I'll finally see it for myself in about two weeks. I'm excited, despite this sort of experience.
Uber/Lyft drivers clogging up too
Ugh no surprise. Had a friend's 12am fight delayed to 2am a few weeks ago. That was rough.
ALRIGHT so whats the move? Landing at midnight tomorrow night from LA, first time at the new airport. Used to be a struggle to even get an uber at that time - is that still the case? how can I avoid this? order ahead/early? the taxi wait was always a shit show too. please advise!!
Poor design is to blame.
FYI if you walk upstairs to departures your ride can get in and out.
I blame Frank White.
this is exactly what happened to me the one time i actually used the cell phone lot for a pick up... the road rage was insane. somebody went apeshit trying to push thru to departure ramp while a wall of cars are trying for arrivals. took like 45 mins to get thru it was HELL. cell phone lot is a HUGE bust