Salt Lake City Airport

After travelling through larger airports Salt Lake is a very pleasing airport to travel through. While the architecture an outdated eye sore and there is no main theme of decoration there is a very calm feeling throughout the airport. The ceilings are low but it is still spacious and the art is fantastic. I wish there were more restaurants that I've actually heard of and a door to the smoking area would be appropriate. There is very little traffic and the staff is very efficient. Thanks to the multiple runways (with another on the way) we always leave on time and our luggage is always waiting for us at the baggage claim.

SLC Airport is understandably confusing to travelers that do not use it on a regular basis. With Delta obsorbing much of Dallas/Fort Worth's traffic (the delta hub there closed) there are many more flights. Because of this passengers on scores of flights must check in at a completely different terminal than they will be departing from!! Furthermore there seems to be a mindset that any given regional jet is Skywest and any Skywest plane is operated by Delta. Neither is the case as United Express operates Skywest and Delta connection also contracts with Atlantic Southeast. The reason I mention this is because I asked for directions to the skywest check-in location (intending to travel with United Express) however I was sent to the wrong terminal where the Delta Connection check-in was located. This is probably a great airport for residents in the SLC area but it sure is confusing for visitors!

I disagree with the previous comment. I find Salt Lake to be one of the nicest airports out there. Everything is under one roof the staff are so friendly and smiling it is easy to change planes and you can actually make a connection with a minimum of time. The airport is close to the city maybe a 10 minute taxi ride. The one negative with the new procedures after 9/11 is that there is literally nothing for the visitor to do in the public zone. Everything is airside. I would like to see some more non-Delta activity. Delta owns the airport much like Atlanta.

The main terminal area for Delta has two deficiencies. First the "smoking rooms" is SLC the last airport to still have these? Every place else I regularly fly through relegates it to outside. The ventilation is horrible and the gate next to the smoking room stunk. Second is the cramped seating at the end of the concourses. At the end of the C concourse there are 8 gates with insufficient seating. At the time I was waiting to depart on a 737 there were 2 767s waiting to board an MD-80 a 757 arriving and two other 737s. What a mess! One last peeve but not unique to SLC is the omnipresence of the CNN Airport Network. I'll give a gold star to the first airport that opens a CNN-free zone. Nothing is worse than a long delay and seeing the same loop of poorly presented news every half hour. Doesn't anyone read anymore?