Chances are you don’t use Kansas City’s downtown airport to fly much or even know its official name—unless, of course, you’re Taylor Swift.
Yes, Swift’s private plane flew into Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport (MKC) last year more than any other airport, with the exception of a landing strip near her primary residence in Nashville, according to data from JetSpy and aviation website Simple Flying. But more important than the comings and goings of the world’s biggest pop star is that city officials have decided that MKC is in need of a name change.
The airport, which was built in 1927 and served as the metro’s main airport until 1972, when MCI was built, has recently garnered enough attention that city officials have taken note. Wanting to capitalize on its recent notoriety and premier location at the Missouri River bottoms next to the rail tracks and Hannibal Bridge, city officials decided a name change will prevent the airport from losing small-plane traffic to other regional airports.
Outsiders “don’t have Charles B. Wheeler knowledge when they’re looking for Kansas City and the business airport within the region,” says Melissa Cooper, the city’s director of aviation. “They want to find Kansas City’s downtown airport.” Kansas City needs to be in its name, says Cooper, whose office is at the airport. And now it is, albeit unofficially.
The City Council voted to change the name from Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport to Kansas City Airport–Wheeler Field. Despite voting it so and changing the airport’s name on its website, the airport’s call sign, its three-letter designation by the Federal Aviation Administration, remains MKC.
Not having “Kansas City” in the airport’s official name poses a problem when you’re trying to effectively market the area, says Cooper. For example, even the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport manages to fit the city name in its title, while still honoring the musical great. No disrespect to Charles Wheeler, an aviation champion and colorful KCMO mayor from 1971 to 1979, but his name doesn’t hold quite the same cachet for outsiders as trumpet master Satchmo’s.
Cooper says that having to explain the meaning of the airport’s name in a quick marketing elevator pitch can waste precious time when big business is increasingly coming through and to MKC.
The coming 2026 FIFA World Cup games will bring plenty of demand, in addition to the area’s ongoing ability to draw major conventions and events, along with the continued success of area professional and collegiate sports teams.
MKC has an annual economic impact of $625 million, according to a study by KCMO-based engineering firm Kimley-Horn released by the city last year. About 2,800 people are employed through various business activities that lease airport space.
More than its runway and hangars, the site is also home to headquarters of global advertising firm VML, which leases just over 100,000 square feet and boasts clients such as Coca-Cola, Dell Technologies and Johnson & Johnson. Additionally, the airport houses the TWA Museum, one of the world’s largest airlines for a time and headquartered at MKC from 1931 to 1964.
No flood zone
One of the downtown airport’s most impressive feats is its ability not to flood, despite the facility’s relationship with the Big Muddy. The country’s longest river hugs most of MKC’s property, and the runway hasn’t ever flooded, even in 1951—the year of the “great flood.”
Another Name Change
Lee’s Summit city officials also voted to add a Kansas City designation to their municipality’s non-commercial airport, much to the chagrin of KC Mayor Quinton Lucas.
Original plans called for dubbing the former Lee’s Summit Municipal Airport (LXT), which shares a far southern border with KCMO, the Greater Kansas City Regional Airport. That plan didn’t sit well with KC officials, who took issue with the word “greater,” since the 486-acre facility mainly serves the southeastern part of the metro. They worried that with words “greater” and “Kansas City” in its name, the airport would draw business away from Kansas City’s downtown airport.
Additionally, some Lee’s Summit City Council members thought the new name should start with Lee’s Summit, not KC.
But when businesses and private travelers come to the facility, “more often they’re visiting the Kansas City area,” Lee’s Summit Mayor William Baird said at a recent council meeting. After all, some of the biggest users of the airport are those traveling to and from Kansas City Chiefs games. Eventually, the new moniker Kansas City–Lee’s Summit Regional Airport won out.
The Federal Aviation Administration must still approve the name change, a process that can take up to six months. Although the city administration expects growth from the airport, which generates an estimated annual economic output of $9 million, there are no plans to add commercial flights. The airport’s location identifier code will remain LXT.
The City of Lee’s Summit is working on a 20-year master plan for the airport that includes a new terminal with a retail and café area, conference and meeting rooms, and a second-floor observation deck.
