KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City International Airport is in the middle of an unprecedented time in the history of air travel.
"There's no way anyone could've anticipated what happened with the pandemic," said Joe McBride of the Kansas City Aviation Department. "The last thing was 9/11, and that was a huge impact to the airline industry. It took a while to put it back together."
Airports across the country will receive funds from the federal CARES Act. KCI will take in more than $43 million.
"It'll take care of salaries and operational costs related to airport operation and fill in the gaps we won't have. The March numbers, we were down 50% in passengers. With April, we expect that to be greater with flights reduced 60-70%," McBride said.
Passengers are slowly starting to get back on planes. KCI reported 3,000 screened travelers Sunday, up from their lowest point of 800 screened passengers in a single day.
McBride said they're ready for an uptick in traffic.
"Cleaning more often, soap and paper towels and sanitizer is stocked up. As we look at recovery, we're looking at additional announcements and signage for social distancing," McBride said.
KCI and its fellow airports, with federal stimulus and new protocols, are working to get safer clearance for takeoff.
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