Salt Lake City International Airport

Salt Lake City International Airport (IATA: SLC, ICAO: KSLC, FAA LID: SLC) is a joint civil-military international airport located about 4 mi (6.4 km; 3.5 nmi) west of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The airport, along with the much smaller Provo Airport (PVU) and Ogden–Hinckley Airport (OGD) are the closest commercial airports for more than 3 million people and is within a 30-minute drive of nearly 1.3 million jobs. The airport serves as a hub for Delta Air Lines and is a major gateway to the Intermountain West and West Coast. The airport sees 343 scheduled nonstop airline departures per day to 93 cities in North America and Europe. It is by far the busiest airport in Utah.
Salt Lake City International Airport continues to rank high for on-time departures/arrivals and the fewest flight cancellations among major US airports. The airport ranked first for on-time departures and arrivals and first for the percentage of cancellations as of April 2017. The airport is owned by the City of Salt Lake City and is administered by the municipal Department of Airports.
In 2024, SLC Int'l Airport set an all-time record with 28,364,610 passengers served, a 5.2% increase from 2023.
In 1911, a site for an air field was chosen on Basque Flats, named for Spanish-French sheep herders who worked the fields in the then-desolate area of the Salt Lake Valley, where a cinder-covered landing was subsequently created. The Great International Aviation Carnival was held the same year and brought aviation pioneers representing Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company and a team representing the Wright Brothers to Salt Lake City. World-famous aviator Glenn H. Curtiss brought his newly invented Seaplane to the carnival, a type of airplane that had never been demonstrated to the public. Curtiss took off from the nearby Great Salt Lake, awing the 20,000 spectators and making international headlines.
For several years, the new field was used mainly for training and aerobatic flights. That would change in 1920 when the United States Postal Service (USPS) began air mail service to Salt Lake City. The city bought a 100-acre tract around Basque Flats for $4,000 and built a field, hangar and other facilities. In the same year, the airfield was given the name Woodward Field, named for John P. Woodward, a local aviator. The first transcontinental air mail flight landed at Woodward Field on September 8.
In 1925, the postal service began awarding contracts to private companies. Western Air Express, the first private company to carry U.S. mail, began flying from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles via Las Vegas. Less than a year later, Western Air Express would begin flying passengers along the same route. Western Air Express later became Western Airlines, which had a large hub in Salt Lake City.
Charles Lindbergh visited Woodward Field in 1927, drawing many spectators to see The Spirit of St. Louis. During the next few years the airport would gain another runway and would span over 400 acres (1.6 km). In 1930 the airport was renamed Salt Lake City Municipal Airport.
The first terminal and airport administration building was built in 1933 at a cost of $52,000. By then, United Airlines had begun serving Salt Lake City on flights between New York City and San Francisco.
As air travel became more popular and the United States Army Air Forces established a base at the airport during World War II, a third runway was added (Runway diagram for 1955). The April 1957 Official Airline Guide (now OAG) shows 42 weekday departures: 18 on Western, 17 United and 7 Frontier. United had flown nonstop to Chicago since 1950, but nonstop service to New York did not start until 1968. The first jets were United 720s in September 1960.
A new terminal was needed and work began on the west side of the airport on Terminal 1, designed by Brazier Montmorency Hayes & Talbot and dedicated in 1960 after seven years of work and a cost of $8 million. In 1968, the airport became Salt Lake City International Airport when a non-stop route to Calgary, Canada was awarded to Western Airlines.
After airline deregulation in 1978, hub airports appeared. Western Airlines, with ties to Salt Lake City since its inception, increased service into hub status on May 1, 1982.
Terminal 2 was designed by Montmorency Hayes & Talbot and built solely for Western and had several murals by artist LeConte Stewart.
During the 1980s, the airport saw further expansion to both terminals as well as runway extension. In 1987, Western Airlines merged with Delta Air Lines. Salt Lake City would continue to be a major airline hub for Delta.
In 1991, the airport opened a new short-term parking garage. The airport opened a new runway in 1995 along with the International Terminal and E concourse for SkyWest Airlines, which was designed by Gensler. A new 328-foot-tall (100 m) control tower, new approach control facility, and a new fire station were opened in 1999.
In 2001, Concourse E was expanded for additional gates and SkyWest Airlines opened its new maintenance hangar and training facility. In 2002, the airport saw heavy crowds as Salt Lake City welcomed over one million visitors for the Winter Olympics.
In June 2008, Delta Air Lines began service to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on a Boeing 767. This was the airport's first transatlantic route. Delta also added the first flight from Salt Lake City to Asia, a link to Tokyo's Narita Airport, the following June. The service aboard Airbus A330s resulted from Delta's merger with Northwest Airlines, which had a hub at Narita. Later that year, Delta made it seasonal. The airline stopped flying to Tokyo in October 2011.
The Airport Redevelopment Program broke ground in 2014, initiating construction of the New SLC terminal complex. This began the process of replacing the existing, aging facilities with all new facilities, including a rental car center, a parking garage, a terminal with two linear concourses (similar to Atlanta, Denver and Washington–Dulles) with 93 gates, two tunnels, and an elevated roadway. The construction was funded by airport funds, passenger and customer facility charges, bonds, and federal grants.
The Airport opened Phase 1 of the new terminal in 2020. This first phase consisted of the western portion of concourse A with 25 gates, and the western portion of Concourse B with 21 gates. The concourses were connected by a mid-field underground tunnel. After Concourse B opened, the old terminals and concourses were demolished, and then construction on concourses A and B east began. With the opening of the new airport, Delta Air Lines opened a brand new Sky Club in concourse A, which at the time was the largest in their network.
Phase 2 of the project included the eastern portion of concourse A with 22 gates and additional concession options. It opened in increments throughout 2023, with the final 13 gates opening on October 31, 2023.
Phase 3 opened on October 22, 2024 including five additional gates in the eastern portion of concourse B, the Concourse B Plaza, additional concession options and the much anticipated central River Tunnel. The central tunnel, which allows passengers to directly access concourse B from just outside the security checkpoint, will reduce walk times to concourse B by as much as half. The Concourse B Plaza includes the reinstalled floor world map that was featured in the former terminal, as well as a 30-foot-long replica of an allosaurus fossil.
Future features of Phase 3 will include 5 gates in the eastern portion of concourse B and an additional Delta Sky Club. Phase 4 will include the airport's first non-Delta club, a United Airlines club that will be on the far east end of concourse B, as well as the airport's only non-airline specific club, an American Express Centurion Lounge. The easternmost 16 gates of concourse B, to be completed in 2026, are also part of Phase 4. Future plans call for adding a tram to the central tunnel when a future concourse C is eventually built. All told, phase 2 through phase 4 are planned to add 48 new gates to the airport for a total of 94 gates.
The airport covers 7,700 acres (3,116 ha) and has four runways. The runways are generally oriented in a NNW/SSE magnetic direction due to consistent prevailing winds in this direction.
SLC has a single terminal with two concourses connected by two underground tunnels for a total of 73 gates. There is a single security check point with 16 lanes and 11 baggage carousels, with additional checkpoint and carousel facilities for international arrivals.
The airport is accessible from I-80 at exit 115 B or from I-215 at exits 22 and 22 B, with the GA terminal accessible from I-215 exit 23. The airport can also be accessed from North Temple Street and Utah State Route 154 (Bangerter Highway), both of which terminate and merge into the airport's Terminal Drive.
Rail and bus services that connect the surrounding region to Salt Lake City International Airport include TRAX light rail service from the Airport station, UTA bus service (via TRAX), and FrontRunner commuter rail (via TRAX).
Ground transportation is available from the airport to ski resorts and locations throughout Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah, and Summit counties. Many Salt Lake taxis, limousines, and shuttles accommodate ski equipment.
Despite being the 28th busiest airport in the world in terms of aircraft operations, the airport still maintains a large general aviation presence. In 2008, 19% of aircraft movements at the airport came from general aviation traffic. This is in contrast to most large airports, which encourage general aviation aircraft to use smaller or less busy airports in order to prevent delays to commercial traffic. The airport is able to effectively handle both commercial and general aviation traffic largely in part to the airport's layout and airspace structure. Nearly all general aviation operations are conducted on the east side of the airport, away from commercial traffic. Additionally, smaller and relatively slower general aviation aircraft arrive and depart the airport in ways that generally do not hinder the normal flow of arriving or departing commercial aircraft.
2021 data shows that there were 337 general aviation aircraft based at the airport. The airport has three fixed-base operators; Signature Flight Support, Atlantic Aviation, and Menzies Aviation located on the east side of the airport. The airport has facilities for air ambulance, law enforcement, as well as state and federal government aircraft. Additionally, the airport is home to several flight training facilities, including one operated by Westminster College.
The Utah Air National Guard operates what was previously named the Salt Lake City Air National Guard Base on the east side of the airport. In November 2014, the installation was renamed the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base after Brigadier General Roland R. Wright, USAF (Ret).
The base occupies approximately 140 acres as a U.S. Government cantonment area leased from the airport. In addition to flight line, the installation comprises 65 buildings: 3 services, 13 administrative, and 47 industrial. There are 255 full-time Air Reserve Technician and Active Guard and Reserve personnel assigned, augmented by 1,343 part-time traditional air national guardsmen. The host wing for the installation is the 151st Wing (151 WG), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit operating the KC-135R Stratotanker.
Accident history for SLC at Aviation Safety Network
In the 1974 film Airport 1975, Captain Alan Murdock (played by Charlton Heston) lands a crippled Boeing 747 at SLC which was involved in a midair collision with a Beechcraft Baron which crashed into the cockpit of the 747, killing most of the flight crew. After landing, the aircraft exited the runway but eventually came to a stop. The movie ends with an emergency evacuation of all passengers and crew at the airport. A good portion of the movie was filmed on location at SLC.
Other notable films with scenes shot on location at SLC:
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency