The mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, is asking Kansas to kick in $5 million to help bring a new direct international route to its newly opened $1.5 billion airport.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas sent a letter to Gov. Laura Kelly in early January asking Kansas to match a $5 million contribution from the state of Missouri.
The request, still standing, comes after the Missouri General Assembly last year approved $5 million in federal stimulus money to help Kansas City recruit an international carrier.
“Millions of Kansans, Missourians, and folks from across the entire Midwest region use the Kansas City International Airport each year,” Lucas said in a letter to the governor obtained by the Sunflower State Journal.
“A direct transatlantic flight will greatly benefit our region by providing easier and more efficient travel options, exponentially increasing tourism from other countries, adding new jobs, and growing the economies of both Kansas and Missouri,” he wrote.
“As we prepare to open our brand new state-of-the-art Kansas City International Airport terminal, Kansas City is working to recruit a direct transatlantic flight—which has been an ask of our business community and flying public for some time as we work to increase our region’s footprint globally,” he wrote.
The decision would likely be in the hands of the Kansas Legislature, which controls $142 million in unallocated federal stimulus relief funds.
The funding currently sits in an account held by the Legislative Coordinating Council and requires its approval to be transferred or allocated.
The last time Kansas City had a transatlantic flight was 2019 when Icelandair served KCI, The Kansas City Star reported.
The airline terminated service in Kansas City because of “commercial reasons” but never explained the decision more fully, The Star reported when Missouri lawmakers approved money for the international flight last year.
Kansas City aviation officials told The Star that roughly 800 people flew to Europe daily from Kansas City in the summer before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
Nevertheless, bistate funding matters can be tricky because of a reluctance of Kansas to send tax money to Missouri, even if residents of the Sunflower State enjoy many of Kansas City’s amenities whether it’s the airport, Arrowhead Stadium or the zoo.
There was an effort in the mid-2000s in the Kansas Legislature to authorize a vote allocating a tax for expanded public transportation, but it died.
And in 2004, a proposed a quarter-cent sales tax for stadium renovations at Arrowhead and Kauffman as well as the arts failed in four out of five metro-area counties.
In this case, the request is for federal money, and it’s uncertain how that could make a difference with political leaders.
“I haven’t seen a proposal yet, but I’m open to learning more about it,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins said in a statement.
“I guess I’m always a little hesitant though when we start talking about Kansas dollars going to fund things out of Missouri,” Hawkins said.
Senate President Ty Masterson shared a similar hesitancy.
“We have not received a request and will review it at the appropriate time, but any proposal to send money to Missouri will have to clear a very high bar,” he said in a statement.
The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce issued a statement late Monday afternoon extolling the value of adding a new international flight in Kansas City.
“A transatlantic flight would be the logical next step for KCI aviation services and an incredible boon for KC,” the chamber said.
“The KC Chamber and thousands of KC regional businesses are excited about the opportunity to travel direct to Europe and leverage the new state of the art KCI that we worked so hard for,” the chamber said.
It added that it’s enthusiastic “about yet another opportunity for the states of Kansas and Missouri to work together to grow development in our bistate region.
“It is always a pleasure to work with our two governors and state legislatures on advancing business in greater Kansas City.”
Kansas City is certainly not the first city to offer incentives for international flghts.
Cleveland.com reported last year that a coalition of state and local governments kicked in almost $12 million to bring Irish airline Aer Lingus to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
The city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the Greater Cleveland Partnership gave up to $2.4 million over three years, the newspaper reported.
Another $9.4 million came from JobsOhio, the private economic development arm of state government.
In 2017, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation agreed to give Delta Airlines up to $5.5 million in conditional incentives for direct flights to Paris from Indianapolis.
In 2018, Pittsburgh paid British Airways $3 million over two year for flights to London.
And it’s been reported that the St. Louis business community joined with the local port authority to give a $5 million incentive to Lufthansa to offer nonstop service to Frankfurt, Germany, from St. Louis.
