Salt Lake City Airport

The airport itself is a kick back to the 1960s or 70s but recently is has been announced that SLC is going to bulldoze everything and start over. The airport has gotten more restaurants inside of security. Weather delays can be bad during or after a major storm but general not as bad as say Denver International. My only real complaint is that the airport is a major hub for Delta Air Lines not one of my favorites. Delta crams a lot of gates together and at times not enough seats for people waiting. The airport was designed to handle around 12 million passengers a year and it handles around 23-25 million a year. Lets hope for a modern well lit terminal.

Despite often being painfully crowded SLC is moderately convenient for people making connections especially on Delta. Unlike that other major Rocky Mountain hub Denver SLC seems to have many fewer weather delays. About once an hour when all the flights are in the whole airport is slammed but in between it isn't too bad. Each gate's waiting area has only about thirty seats for flights taking hundreds of passengers so crowding is unavoidable. The concourse bathrooms are way too small with too few toilets and not enough room to maneuver roller bags in and out. On the other hand there are plenty of shops and amenities inside security. Concourse E where commuter flights arrive and depart is massively confusing with a long row of gates jammed together just across a walkway from where thousands of passengers try to figure out where they need to go. It's an amazingly bad layout. Delta's SLC Crown Room is showing its age with worn furniture and tattered carpet but the free drinks and complementary T-Mobile wifi are welcome. The Crown Room can also be very crowded at certain times. Outside security the ticket area is too small for the number of passengers and there are often long winding lines to check in. The line outside the Terminal Two security entrance often extends all the way across the bridge to the parking garage then doubles back all the way to the security gate. SLC hint: If the Terminal Two security line is too long try going through security at the adjacent International Terminal. It is often wide open though the last time I was at SLC that checkpoint was closed. I guess the powers-that-be want us to wait in a long line! Car rental is very convenient being in the parking garage just across the street from the terminals and downtown Salt Lake City is very close. Overall SLC is a decent airport without enough facilities for the number of passengers traveling through pretty much like most American airports.

Flew Southwest into and out of SLC last week and have done the same about 4 times in the past 6 months. The airport is OK. Nothing spectacular just OK. Aesthetically it is pretty poor no personality and the restaurant choices could be a lot better. It's hard to find electricity outlets and there's no free wifi. That said it gets the job done. Check-in the walk to and from the gates baggage claim and the walk to the rental car counters are all pretty efficient. Arrivals and departures seem to be on time more often than not and if I were flying on Delta I would definitely use SLC over their other hubs.

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?