KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Federal Aviation Administration has sent Kansas City International Airport a letter threatening to pull funding unless the airport meets civil rights requirements.
The letter concerns both Title IV and minority-owned business participation, which KCI was found to have "significant compliance deficiencies" in regards to.
"We expect the City to take immediate steps to correct the identified deficiencies, starting with proposed corrective actions and timelines for each finding," the letter said.
The lack of compliance came from several points according to the FAA. They included:
- Not publicizing the Title VI complaint process
- Not ensuring appropriate handling of such complaints
- Not displaying the FAA unlawful discrimination poster
- Not requiring compliance with airport nondiscrimination laws in contracts with vendors
- Not reporting discrimination complaints to the FAA immediately
Noncompliance, according to the FAA, also included not providing documents or program plans that KCI is required to provide.
The FAA said the airport agreed to comply with such requirements when they accepted grant money from the department, namely Airport Improvement Program grants.
Following the letter, Lisa Garney, owner of G2 Contruction, announced that she had made a complaint against the airport that was referenced by the FAA.
"The FAA cited various complaints of discrimination that the city did not report. One of these complaints to the city was by G2 Construction and its owner Lisa Garney in 2020," the release said.
Garney said in a news release Thursday that a contract initially won by her company was taken back due to discrimination.
“One of the largest contracts ever awarded to a woman-owned business in KC was wrongfully taken from G2 as a result of discrimination,” said Garney in the release. “The city’s lack of controls, accountability, and transparency, cited by the FAA, allowed this to happen. It’s particularly disappointing because our team has vast experience in concrete work and we won the bid because we had the qualifications, lowest price, and highest minority and women participation.”
The airport has 30 days to show the FAA it has become compliant or has a plan with an included timeline to become compliant.
KCMO released the following statement in response to the letter:
The Aviation Department has voluntarily been working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on this review. The City’s Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Department (CREO KC) recently joined this effort and will assist in the City’s review the FAA’s letter in full and work to implement the necessary changes.
Complaints and investigations of this nature are not uncommon and we are continuously working to ensure compliance with all local, state, and federal rules and regulations. The Aviation Department understands its grant assurance responsibilities and continues to work closely with the FAA to uphold our commitments.
The City does not expect there to be any effect on the budget or schedule of the new terminal project, which remains on time and on budget.
