An introducer for a surgical airway catheter has a proximal handle a curved, rod-shaped main section a cutting region and a rod-shaped distal tip, all (except the handle) sized to receive the catheter tube. After making an initial opening in a patients trachea, the operator inserts the distal tip of the introducer into the initial opening up to the cutting region. The operator uses the cutting region to sufficiently widen the opening by moving the introducer from side to side to enable the widened opening to receive the tube and cuff of the catheter. The operator rotates the introducer and catheter into the trachea through the widened opening and then removes the introducer leaving the catheter in place. The introducer and catheter can be pre-configured in a surgical kit that includes a retractable scalpel that can be configured onto the introducers handle and used to excise the initial tracheal opening.
