SALT LAKE CITY — Several thoughts came to Bill Wyatt’s mind when he finally saw the glass windows on the east end of Concourse B at Salt Lake City International Airport for the first time Tuesday morning.
Wyatt, the airport director, thought about the contractors and construction workers who have worked diligently over the past 12 years to complete full construction of the brand new, $5.1 billion airport, most of which he may never see again when they move on to the next new project.
He then thought about the legacy left by everyone who planned or built the project, not just over the past decade, but over the past 30 years.
“It’s a great feeling because all of us – the thousands of people who were a part of this – are going to leave our fingerprints on this facility, which will be here for generations and generations to come,” he said, as passengers sifted through eight new gates behind him.
Initial construction at the Salt Lake City Airport wrapped up this week, as the first flight in the final phase of construction took off Monday evening and the final new concessions opened Tuesday morning.
City leaders and Delta Air Lines officials joined airport employees to commemorate the moment with a final ribbon-cutting, celebrating the 94 gates and more than 100 concession areas within the complex.
This moment marks the end of a decades-long journey.
Planning for the new Salt Lake City airport began in the mid-1990s, but a few unexpected disruptions — primarily 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis — delayed the start of construction by about 20 years.
Six years of construction later, the airport’s first gates finally opened in September 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic. Additional doors opened in stages over the past six years, until this week.
The project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, Wyatt noted. It was also named one of the best airports in North America in the 2025 ASQ Customer Experience Awards.
“This airport is truly, truly above the rest,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, before thanking all of her predecessors who helped realize this vision. “This airport is for all of you: Salt Lake City, Utah, the entire region and now the world. We are very excited to finally (and) fully open it to you.”
The end?
However, the “end” of this story comes with a question mark rather than a period.
Passengers might notice a mysterious escalator between the B41 and B46 when they arrive at the far end of the airport. It’s currently stuck, but it hints at the next phase of growth hidden in plain sight – while other clues are simply out of sight.
The mysterious escalator leads outside the concourse, allowing airlines to operate without a jet bridge. Passengers use a bus that goes to a parked plane and board stairs that lead there, Wyatt said.
“It’s a way, for example, for a new airline to test Salt Lake without having to make a huge investment, and see if it’s a place they want to be,” he told KSL. “It’s also a little extra element of flexibility in the service.”
It’s not currently in use, but he thinks it might be in demand at some point in the next few years.
Airport officials also plan to expand the runway to address recent challenges airlines have faced. During hot days, airlines often have to ask passengers to board another flight or adjust fuel to account for the thermal density factor, making it less cost-effective and less profitable for airlines to leave the airport.
The goal is to complete this expansion before the 2034 Winter Olympics, which could help attract more international airlines.
Salt Lake City’s future plans also call for a Concourse C at some point. There is a somewhat secret tunnel next to the airport’s “river tunnel”, which will accommodate a future tramway which will eventually connect three concourses once built.
It remains to be determined when it will be built.
The airport recorded nearly 28.5 million passengers in fiscal year 2026, which ended June 30. This represents a modest 1.2% increase over the previous fiscal year, but Wyatt estimates the trigger point to begin construction won’t be until volumes reach 34 to 35 million.
It is difficult to predict when this will happen; however, as evidenced by the delays between the planning of the new airport and its completion 30 years later.
If the local economy remains strong and other economic factors, like high fuel prices – one of the biggest challenges of the moment – take hold, the trigger point could be reached in the 2030s. Otherwise, it could take longer.
“We don’t really have control over these things,” Wyatt said.
So, for now, the main goal is to operate a now completed airport, while monitoring the metrics to see when the time is right to rebuild again.
The key takeaways from this article were generated with the help of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article itself is solely written by humans.
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