After nearly two years of being locked out of the hanger at the Charles Wheeler Downtown Airport, the Airline History Museum’s owners hope the FAA will soon help them solve their lease issue.Hangar nine at the downtown airport continues to be the home for the Airline History Museum.It houses some of Kansas City’s coolest aviation history, even the wrecked Harrison Ford plane, but it’s all under lock and key from Signature Flight Support, the museum’s landlord.“Trying to go in and evaluate where everything is at has been frustrating,” Airline History Museum President John Roper said.Signature says the museum owes back rent, something owners are fighting. They claim an abatement given to them by the city back in 2005 to host STEM events for kids counters that claim. Now, they’ve at least got the FAA listening.Roper says the FAA is opening a case to look into monopolization of the airport.“The city has until May 27 to respond to that complaint, so we’re anxiously awaiting to see what the response is,” Roper said.The problem really took flight for the airline history museum in 2021, when they were told they were going to be evicted. They fought that eviction until 2022, and that’s when they showed up to find a padlock on the door. A year later, in 2023, they were still not able to get inside and check on the plane’s conditions. Two years later, in 2024, the padlock remains on the door.“We’re hoping that our documentation is solid enough that this is just a quick paperwork exercise,” Roper said.Signature Flight Support was not available for comment and the city did not return messages.To be clear, this is not the TWA Museum that is still open at the airport. The Airline History Museum is located on the southwest side of the Charles Wheeler Downtown Airport and has been closed since 2021.
After nearly two years of being locked out of the hanger at the Charles Wheeler Downtown Airport, the Airline History Museum’s owners hope the FAA will soon help them solve their lease issue.
Hangar nine at the downtown airport continues to be the home for the Airline History Museum.
It houses some of Kansas City’s coolest aviation history, even the wrecked Harrison Ford plane, but it’s all under lock and key from Signature Flight Support, the museum’s landlord.
“Trying to go in and evaluate where everything is at has been frustrating,” Airline History Museum President John Roper said.
Signature says the museum owes back rent, something owners are fighting. They claim an abatement given to them by the city back in 2005 to host STEM events for kids counters that claim. Now, they’ve at least got the FAA listening.
Roper says the FAA is opening a case to look into monopolization of the airport.
“The city has until May 27 to respond to that complaint, so we’re anxiously awaiting to see what the response is,” Roper said.
The problem really took flight for the airline history museum in 2021, when they were told they were going to be evicted.
They fought that eviction until 2022, and that’s when they showed up to find a padlock on the door. A year later, in 2023, they were still not able to get inside and check on the plane’s conditions. Two years later, in 2024, the padlock remains on the door.
“We’re hoping that our documentation is solid enough that this is just a quick paperwork exercise,” Roper said.
Signature Flight Support was not available for comment and the city did not return messages.
To be clear, this is not the TWA Museum that is still open at the airport.
The Airline History Museum is located on the southwest side of the Charles Wheeler Downtown Airport and has been closed since 2021.