By Michael Bushnell
Northeast News
January 27, 2016

Kansas City’s Municipal Airport was once a swampy, 687-acre bog located in an ox-bow area along the great bend of the Missouri River. Opening on Aug. 17, 1927 to much fanfare, the inaugural arrivals were two airplanes — one filled with Chamber of Commerce dignitaries such as Chamber President Lou Holland and City Manager H. P. McElroy, and a second plane flown by celebrated trans-Atlantic pilot Charles Lindbergh.

The reluctant hero, Lindbergh was invited by the city to give the dedication speech, opening the then dirt field to passenger air traffic.

“Kansas City Municipal Airport is located about 1.5 miles from Kansas City’s business center. The passenger station, costing approximately $62,000, opened to the public on Dec. 8, 1929, and is considered one of the best passenger stations in the world,” reads the postcard.

Within months of the new airport’s opening, it was served by three “major” air passenger carriers: Trans-Continental & Western, a precursor to TWA, Mid Continent Airlines and Braniff, later known as the “jellybean” airline for their brightly painted jets.

After 45 years of service as Kansas City’s Municipal Airport, commercial passenger operations were transferred to the new Kansas City International Airport in Platte County.

The old Municipal Airport was renamed for former Kansas City Mayor Charles B. Wheeler in 2002.

This photo-chrome postcard shows the airport after a major addition was completed in the 1950s. In 1972, Kansas City International Airport was dedicated and most commercial passenger traffic was diverted to the new Platte County site roughly 20 miles to the north.