It was dedicated as New Richards Field in 1927 by Charles Lindbergh and was soon renamed Kansas City Municipal Airport.

In the early 1960s, an FAA memo called it "the most dangerous major airport in the country" and urged that no further federal funds be spent on it.

The April 1957 Official Airline Guide (OAG) listed the following weekday departures from MKC: The downtown airport has been renamed for Charles Wheeler who was mayor when Kansas City International opened.

The terminal building today houses VML, a global advertising and marketing agency headquartered in Kansas City.

On October 17, 2006, the Kansas City, Missouri, Aviation Department announced plans to build a $20 million aircraft hangar complex at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport including: 122 T-hangars, 13 box hangars, a 40,000-square-foot (4,000 m2) terminal building with offices, a pilots' lounge, meeting rooms and a destination restaurant.

In the year ending September 30, 2022, the airport had 114,975 aircraft operations, average 315 per day: 77% general aviation, 21% air taxi, 2.2% military, and <1% commercial.