Kansas City Senator Calls For State Aid To Keep American Airlines Base At KCI

Kansas City officials, desperate to keep an American Airlines maintenance hub in their city, are carefully watching the situation in St. Louis, where the troubled airline is laying off two thousand workers. City officials are offering an estimated $200-Million in revenue bonds to keep the facility there. And, State Senator Charles Wheeler of Kansas City thinks the state should kick in at least 25 percent of whatever the city offer is. He’s heard the argument this equates to corporate welfare, but it’s the kind of handout the state cannot afford to not make. Some critics of the lack of passage of workers’ compensation reform in the past legislative session say that could cost the state the maintenance hub. But Wheeler doesn’t believe that would drive out the company.