The Kansas City Aviation Department owns and operates the Kansas City International Airport and the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport. The Kansas City International Airport is a major national airport and the primary point of arrival and departure for more than nine million air travelers annually. The Aviation Department’s mission is to provide outstanding airport services in a safe and cost-effective manner for the benefit of citizens, visitors, airlines and customers. The MCI complex spans more than 10,000 acres, and its three runways can accommodate up to 139 aircraft operations per hour. Uncongested air and ground space, short taxi time, and a low weather-related closure/cancellation rate are why MCI consistently ranks among the lowest in delays of all U.S. airports.
The Aviation Department had several mission-critical objectives that were necessary to satisfy the organization’s marketing and strategic goals. One of the primary goals for the project was to communicate quickly and easily with travelers using the airports, and make new information immediately available using a variety of methods to present the information to users.
Digital Evolution Group began by formulating a plan in conjunction with the Aviation Department’s marketing staff to position KCI as easy, convenient and cost-effective, and that many destinations can be reached from KCI, often on a non-stop flight. This message is largely communicated to the Kansas City metropolitan area and neighboring communities (such as Columbia, Missouri) that may have competing airport options. Once the positioning of the website was established, Digital Evolution Group then formulated the website functionality to meet the organizational goals of the department.
The features of the website are traveler-friendly, focused on helping users travel through KCI in as convenient and stress-free manner as possible, providing easy access to information that is commonly requested, and using Web 2.0 technologies to bring certain information directly to the traveler, rather than requiring the traveler to come to a website when access may be limited. Because air travel is a highly dynamic experience, with multiple affecting factors, people, and processes, and because it is such an important part of the public’s business and leisure, all individuals involved need a single destination to receive pertinent information about flight times and circumstances, including delays and weather factors.
Additionally, Digital Evolution Group helped the Aviation Department present time-sensitive information that supports its revenue-generating activities, such as parking availability and site sponsorship. Because news and information often changes rapidly, and given the Aviation Department’s internal marketing and public relations staff, the content of the website had to be modifiable with little to no programming knowledge whatsoever through the use of a content management platform.