Salt Lake City Airport

✅ Trip Verified | If it was your goal in life to make the worst airport possible, you would fail, because there is no way you could make it worse than this new multi-billion dollar airport. It's almost like they took everything good about the last airport (and there was a lot of good) and tried to do the opposite. Starting with something the old airport struggled with, pickup and drop-off. The old airport was almost always packed and difficult to deal with, so what was their solution? Make less space to pickup and drop-off...brilliant!! Off to a great start! Now let's take something the old airport did well and completely butcher it. You had very little distance to walk with the old airport because you had two terminals with separate security lines (three if you count the international terminal, it was a genius layout). This new airport has one security line and then once you're in the terminal, you start all the way at the end of a quarter mile (at least) corridor. Then if you want to get to the next terminal, you have to walk halfway down the first, then another 1/8th of a mile under the tarmac, then walk all the way down to wherever your gate is. I mean, it's laughable how poorly it is designed. Especially given that most people in Utah have a ton of kids. I only have two (very) young kids and it is a nightmare to get luggage and kids from the drop off area all the way to the gate. We were lucky enough to have another couple help us each time we've done it. The brain power and decision making that went into this new airport is embarrassing. At least look at what works at other airports and copy that if you can't come up with a better idea. I can only think of one nice thing to say about this new airport, it looks nice.

✅ Trip Verified | Loved the old airport. It had character. I was hoping for an exiting new airport with an experience. SLC started with a clean slate and created one of the most boring vanilla airports in the world. The development maybe had the best intentions, but not only did they miss the mark, SLC is a poorly designed airport, boring & one could not make it more vanilla if they tried. I travel a lot & I have been to tiny airports that had more character. It works, it is an airport, long walks, which is ok, but not for the elders at all. Plain strait line & not much to brag about here at all. Horrible selection of stores, boring, not enough restaurants and just so, so. Catch your flight or arrive. That is all one can say. The development team must have been a group of amateurs or a high school design class. Definitely not professional at all. One could even assume they did not visit other airports & that this was the teams first endeavor.

Not Verified | Even if there were no other large and super efficient airports to go and have a look at, it's mind-blowing that this is what the designers came up with. I've been in small to mega airports all over the country and the world and SLC takes the prize for the slowest, most inefficient, and horrendously long walking distances. I can't express what a super disappointment this place is, and I know of no other passengers who've been through it, who do not feel the same way. I mean seriously! Did the designers not look at any other airports to see what's working? Dumb, dumb, dumb. You'd think that for the billions that it's costing, we would have gotten something better than this disaster.

Not Verified | What a disaster. The trip from B Terminal to baggage/ground transportation on foot is a ridiculous. What were the designers and the ious approvers thinking? Someone was clearly asleep at the office or thinks only 18 year olds in track shoes frequent the SLC airport. The team responsible for this should be called out. This needs to be fixed!

✅ Trip Verified | I realize I am a little long with this but I wanted to include a few details for future travelers into Salt Lake City through the airport. This is a total disaster, I missed my first flight with seven people by 15 minutes prior to departure posted time, it was horrible we even had a pilot with us that could not make his connection. This flight was from Idaho Falls to Salt Lake City with connecting flight to Phoenix. I had to wait in the airport with the group for five hours until the next flight at 11.30pm. The pilot went on with another airline, he had to reach the airport in Phoenix to fly the same plane to its next flight. On my return flight from Arizona to Idaho I jogged from concourse to concourse almost missing the flight from Salt Lake City to Idaho. They were shutting the door on the bus transportation. The escalator from floor to floor was so crowded that each step had someone with luggage on it and it was not a safe looking environment. The walkways were extremely crowded and people were bypassing them running alongside it very un safe conditions. I wanted so bad to take a picture of this but could not stop it was so chaotic crowded. Both Concourses are extremely narrow with people running and tripping over each other. Whoever was on the planning committee of this-airport will Airport did a disservice to Salt Lake City. If you have any handicap or age related walking or traveling issues stay clear of this airport it is not conducive to getting you around in these long distances. Sorry Salt Lake but I will do everything I can to avoid layovers or connecting flights with you from now on I was so excited to see the new terminals.

✅ Trip Verified | SLC is a train wreck of an airport from layout and design to the TSA process and employees. Just avoid this airport unless it is a connection. After screening it took the geniuses at TSA 45 minutes to figure out that three hats will not be recognized as an approved object on the scanner. These chuckleheads will pull your contents from one bin and not tell you. Seriously watch your stuff and pay attention. If you are not on gates A1 to A20 be prepared to trek over to the B concourse and wear your hiking boots. I think the local government dropped about $4B on this disaster. The rental car area is onsite and is pretty straightforward to return a car.

Not Verified | It looks like this is a very new wing of the airport in SLC and unfortunately I am very disappointed with it. Nothing has changed for the better. There are seats everywhere and no standing areas or places to stand and do work, charge phones, etc. We sit in cramped little seats on airplanes - why would we want more sitting time while in the airport too? I don’t ever want to sit more while in the airport - I either want to stand or to sleep. So where are the airport beds for everyone who is exhausted from not being able to sleep on planes? or the standing areas to do work? Where is the progress? Furthermore, there should be compost stations around the airport - not just trash and recycling. We should be much more progressive these days - especially in places where thousands of people visit every day. Definitely things to think about and changes to make now.

Not Verified | This airport doesn't make sense. Check in on 3rd floor then walk down to 2nd where you wait in a security line that regularly backs up into baggage claim. The automated security can probably be fixed, but right now it doesn't work nor has it since the airport opened. Once you do get through security, there is a long walk if you are at any but the first few a gates. I fly through here regularly and don't have too much issue with domestic arrivals. I experienced my first international arrival today and have to ask who approved grabbing luggage before checking passports? All of these people could be getting processed while the baggage makes the trek across the airport, now people have to line up for baggage, then go through customs...also, there will be people lining up with oversized baggage in the tight customs line. The engineering on this project is probably the worst I've ever seen.

✅ Trip Verified | The new airport is a nightmare. The layout is annoying at best. If you are into walking forever and have no time constraints you will do fine. Otherwise, plan on hiking great distances and spending lots of time trying to get to and from your plane. The signage is horrendous. All in all a very frustrating experience.

✅ Trip Verified | Probably the worst major airport I’ve ever experienced in terms of layout and planning. The distance required to walk to B gates is absurd, together with a departure arrival that requires you to take an escalator up and then down to check in and access gate levels. All total passengers must endure four escalators — long ones — if going to B gates. This shows that either the architects were newbies incapable of good design, or that the City did not listen and fund properly — or both. SLC is a lesson in terrible airport planning where whomever led the work should forever be banned from any large scale public project, especially any involving public transportation.