![Kci-airpot1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Kci-airpot1.jpg)
The Kansas City Overhaul Base is a manufacturing and maintenance plant adjacent to
Kansas City International Airport
Kansas City International Airport (originally Mid-Continent International Airport) is a public airport in Kansas City, Missouri located northwest of Downtown Kansas City in Platte County, Missouri., effective December 30, 2021. The airport o ...
.
The plant at its peak in the 1960s and 1970s employed more than 6,000 people who worked on repairing the entire fleet of
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...
(and other airlines under contract) and it was Kansas City's biggest employer. Since TWA's successor
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
began downsizing in preparation for a total abandonment effective September 2010, three companies moved their headquarters and plants into the complex (
Smith Electric Vehicles
Smith Electric Vehicles (also known as Smith's) is a manufacturer of electric trucks. The company, founded in 1920 in the north of England, moved its headquarters to Kansas City, Missouri in 2011. Smith suspended all operations in 2017.
Smith ...
(US),
Jet Midwest and
Nordic Windpower).
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...
leased two narrow-body hangars.
The plant along with the airport opened in 1957 at a cost of $25 million and was marked an attempt to keep TWA in Kansas City following the
Great Flood of 1951
In mid-July 1951, heavy rains led to a great rise of water in the Kansas River, Missouri River, and other surrounding areas of the Central United States. Flooding occurred in the Kansas, Neosho, Marais Des Cygnes, and Verdigris river basins. ...
which had destroyed TWA's facilities at
Fairfax Airport
Fairfax Municipal Airport (known as Fairfax Field during World War II) was a Kansas City, Kansas airfield from 1921 that was used during 1935–1949 by the military. Federal land adjacent to the airfield included a WWII B-25 Mitchell plant and ...
close to the
Missouri River. TWA's plant had been in the former
North American Aviation
North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included: the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F ...
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
bomber plant at Fairfax. TWA labeled the building MCIE (after the airport's original name of Mid-Continent International Airport).
The airline also moved its large overhaul operations at the
New Castle County Airport
Wilmington Airport (formerly known as New Castle Airport, New Castle County Airport, sometimes referred to as Wilmington-New Castle Airport, or to a lesser extent Wilmington/Philadelphia Regional Airport and Greater Wilmington Airport) is an a ...
in Delaware to Kansas City.
In 1973, when the airport opened to replace
Kansas City Downtown Airport
Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport serving Kansas City, Missouri. Located in Clay County, this facility is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems, which categorized it as a general aviat ...
as the city's main airport, TWA also added its distinctive sloped wide-body hangars.
When
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
acquired financially bankrupt TWA in 2001, TWA had 2,600 employees at the base.
In 2008, American moved about 500 of its remaining 1,000 employees to
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
and American formally cut the ties in September 2010.
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
visited the Smith Electric part of the plant to tout the $32 million in
stimulus funding granted to Smith to locate to the structure.
Kansas City says that have been leased.
In 2009, Kansas City broke ground on the
KCI Intermodal Center,
Kansas City SmartPort foreign trade zone on across Runway 9/27 directly south of the plant being developed by
Trammell Crow Company
Trammell Crow Company is a real estate development, investment, and property management company. It has been a subsidiary of CBRE Group since 2006.
History
The company was founded by Trammell Crow
Fred Trammell Crow (June 10, 1914 – January 1 ...
.
References
{{Coord, 39.295284, -94.696677, display=title
Motor vehicle assembly plants in Missouri
Manufacturing in the United States
1957 establishments in Missouri
Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Missouri
Republic Airways
Trans World Airlines
American Airlines