Salt Lake City International

A Legacy of Private Aviation

A cinder-covered landing was created in 1911 for an airfield on Basque Flats in Salt Lake Valley, which at that time was desolate. The Great International Aviation Carnival was held in Salt Lake City that year. It brought aviation pioneers representing the Wright Brothers and Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company to the city. Glenn H. Curtiss had brought his new invention, the Seaplane, which the general public had never seen, and took off from nearby Salt Lake in front of 20,000 spectators. The event made international headlines. Until 1920, the new airfield was used for training and aerobatic flights, at which point the United States Parcel Service brought airmail to Salt Lake City for the first time. This forced the airport to expand, and new hangars and other buildings were constructed. The airport was named Woodward Field after local aviator John P. Woodward. The USPS continued directly flying mail until 1925, when it began awarding contracts to private companies. The first company to carry mail was Western Air Express, which began flying to Los Angeles via Las Vegas. This gave rise to the airline flying passengers along the same route later that year (the airline later came to be known as Western Airlines and had a significant hub in Salt Lake City). Over the following years, the airport would add another runway and grow to cover over 400 acres. It was renamed Salt Lake Municipal Airport in 1930. In 1933 the first terminal and airport administration building was added. United Airlines began serving Salt Lake Municipal on flights between New York City and San Francisco. During WWII, the United States Army Air Forces established a base at the airport, and a third runway was added. By 1957 the airport had 42 departures on weekdays, with 18 on Western, 17 on United, and seven on Frontier. In September 1960, United began flying the first jets to Salt Lake City, on Boing 720s. That same year, the new Terminal 1 (as work had begun seven years earlier on the west side of the existing terminal) was opened at the cost of $8 million. The airport was again renamed Salt Lake City International Airport in 1968 when Western Airlines began flying nonstop to Calgary, Canada. Airline deregulation in 1978 brought about hub airports, with Western Airlines choosing SLC as one of its hubs. Terminal 2 was built solely for Western (designed by Montmorency Hayes & Talbot). The 80s brought about expansion to both terminals and the runways; in 1987, Western merged with Delta Airlines (which has a hub at the airport to this day). A short-term parking garage opened in 1991, and in 1995 a new runway was extended along with an international terminal and E Concourse for SkyWest Airlines. In 1999 a new 328-foot control tower, a new approach control facility, and a new fire station opened. 2001 brought more expansion to Concourse E (more gates were added), and a new maintenance hangar and training facility were added by SkyWest Airlines. The first scheduled transatlantic flight began in June 2008, a Delta flight to Paris-Charles de Gaulle. In June 2009, Delta began service to Narita International Airport near Tokyo, the first direct flight from SLC to Asia (these were seasonal flights, the last of which occurred in 2011). In May 2016, KLM began a thrice-weekly nonstop service to Amsterdam, the first transatlantic route from SLC served by a European-based airline (this is a supplement to the Delta route to Amsterdam, as the airlines are joint-venture partners). Construction of a new terminal complex began in 2014 to replace the aging facilities that had been in place. These included a consolidated terminal, two linear concourses with 93 gates, a rental car facility, a parking garage, two tunnels, and an elevated roadway (funded by airport funds, passenger and customer facility charges, federal grants, and bonds). Phase I was opened in 2020, with the two concourses that operate today (connected by an underground tunnel). This prompted the closing and demolition of the old complex.