[4] Nonstop service was offered to 47 airports, including Cancún, Montego Bay, San José del Cabo, and Toronto.

[6] The site just north of the then-unincorporated hamlet of Hampton, Missouri, was picked in May 1953 (with an anticipated cost of $23 million) under the guidance of City Manager L.P.

On July 1, 1965, Continental Airlines Flight 12 overran the runway while landing at Kansas City Municipal Airport.

The Civil Aeronautics Board determined that the pilots of the Boeing 707 had landed properly within the touchdown zone for their ILS approach, and though deploying spoilers, thrust reversers, and brakes, the remaining runway distance was too short for them to safely stop in heavy rain and tailwind conditions.

[12] In 1966, voters in a 24:1 margin approved a $150 million bond issue following a campaign by Mayor Ilus W. Davis to move the city's main airport to an expanded Mid-Continent.

The city had considered building its new airport 5 miles (8.0 km) north of downtown Kansas City in the Missouri River bottoms, as well as locations in southern Jackson County, Missouri, but decided to stick with the property it already owned.

Kivett and Myers designed the terminals and control tower; it was dedicated on October 23, 1972, by U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew.

Many design decisions were driven by TWA, which envisioned the facility as its hub, with 747s and Supersonic Transports whisking people from America's heartland to all points on the globe.

When security checkpoints were hardened after 9/11, they were difficult and expensive to implement since passenger seating areas had to be walled off from the main concourses.

No restrooms were available, and shops, restaurants, newsstands, ATMs or any other passenger services were not available without exiting the secure area and being re-screened upon re-entry.

The airport uses AKAL Security, an independent contractor that conforms to TSA's recruiting and training standards.

Improvements included, amongst other things, increasing the size of each structural bay to provide larger spaces for vestibules, concessions, retail and public seating as well as new bathrooms inside security.

[17] In May 2007, the final portion of the project, a new rental car facility and additional art fixtures, were completed.

In March 2010, the Transportation Security Administration announced that the airport would be one of the first in the United States to have full-body scanners, with the first one used at the Southwest Airlines screening area beginning in the summer of 2010.

[19] Icelandair launched a seasonal route to Reykjavík, Kansas City's first transatlantic flight, in May 2018.

[20] In the wake of the Boeing 737 MAX groundings, Icelandair decided to make changes to its network to increase profitability; these included severing the link to Kansas City.

[27] In February 2024, the Kansas City Council approved a $17.5 million contract with St. Louis-based Spirtas Wrecking Company to demolish old terminals B and C.[28] Demolition work began July 15, 2024, and was expected to last 10 weeks.

[29] The amount of international flights has increased, with Southwest Airlines having commenced nonstop seasonal services to San José del Cabo and Montego Bay.

[30] Air Canada announced in late 2024 that they would be terminating the route between Kansas City and Toronto for 2025 summer season due to low demand and issues with their Airbus A220 fleet.

The city government has requested – but the airport has been unable – to change its original FAA location identifier of MCI for Mid-Continent, which had already been registered on navigational charts.

Further complicating requests to change the designation, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at the time reserved all call letters with "K" or "W" for radio and television stations, so KCI was not viable.

The airport has a consolidated rental car facility and each terminal has four rental car shuttle bus stops operated by First Transit and REM Inc.[citation needed] The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority has public bus service to the airport from Downtown Kansas City that runs every hour.

In the reporting period of January 1990 to September 2008, none of the encounters resulted in injury to people and all of the airplanes landed safely.