Eliminate airport parking passes

No doubt a case can be made for why this public official or that business leader deserves the perk of free parking at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport. But City Manager Robert Layton has the right idea in calling for all 113 VIP parking passes to be eliminated when they expire Dec. 31.

“I just think it’s important that there are no exceptions to our parking regulations,” Layton said in an Eagle story by Dion Lefler shedding light on this selective freebie.

The courtesy cards are separate from hundreds of airport employee parking passes, which obviously are needed and apply to employee lots.

The question is whether it’s fair to comp an elite few in the public garage and parking lot while making everybody else pay as much as $15 a day. The answer clearly is “no.”

When the Airport Advisory Board considers the issue, perhaps next week, and the City Council takes it up later in November, there may be some desire to trim rather than ax the list. In cases in which taxpayers would have to pick up the expenses of those government employees newly charged to park, shareable parking passes assigned to city departments and other agencies would be an improvement over the status quo. And the VIP list should not be continued in any form without a new policy explaining and guiding its use, and specifying the cards are not for personal travel.

The responses of officials in Kansas City, Mo., and St. Louis to similar revelations are instructive. Kansas City International Airport’s list started at 29 names and reportedly is being cut to 14. At Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, all but 16 of 150 passes are to be eliminated. Why should the much-smaller ICT allow dozens to park for free?

This long-standing practice at ICT seems especially ill-advised now, given that the $40 million parking garage and $160 million new terminal are being financed in part through user fees.

The new terminal is having the desired effect so far, making a positive first impression on visitors and encouraging ridership. But like the scrapped initial plan to unveil the terminal at an April gala for 800 invited guests, the VIP parking carries a message of exclusivity at odds with the public facility’s purpose.

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Eliminate airport parking passes."