In 1911, during Salt Lake City's Great International Aviation Carnival, pioneer aviator Glenn H. Curtiss launched his newly-invented seaplane from the Great Salt Lake, awing some 20,000 spectators and making international headlines. At the time of the carnival Salt Lake City's newly minted airport consisted of a cinder-covered landing strip on a marshy, desolate area of the valley known as Basque Flats.

That site, which would later welcome the first regularly-scheduled air passenger service in U.S. history -- a Western Air Express flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles -- is today home to Salt Lake City International Airport, the 25th busiest airport in the U.S. in terms of total passengers and 22nd busiest in the world in terms of total airport operations. Additionally, Salt Lake City International is consistently ranked first among U.S. airports for on-time departures and arrivals, leads the nation for fewest flight cancellations and was ranked one of the top mid-sized U.S. airports for customer satisfaction by JD Power and Associates.

An Economic Powerhouse
"Salt Lake City International Airport is an economic powerhouse and plays a critical role in keeping Utah as a top location for business, tourism, outdoor recreation and many other areas important to our economy," says Todd Brightwell, EDCUtah's vice president of business development. "Clearly, our economic development work would be much more difficult without our major metropolitan airport close by."

Indeed, Salt Lake City International Airport is one the closest airports to its city center anywhere in the U.S. Situated just 10 minutes west of the central business district, the airport is convenient not only to the capital city but also to 11 major ski resorts and numerous metropolitan areas across the Wasatch Front. It will become even more conveniently accessible upon completion of the Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) airport line of the TRAX light rail system in 2013. By 2030 the UTA anticipates the airport line will serve approximately 14,000 daily passengers.

"Truly, Utah's 'Crossroads of the West' moniker would be less meaningful without the Salt Lake City International Airport," Brightwell adds. "What's more, the airport is a major employment center and a critical factor in the selection process for aviation-related businesses. In fact, more than 60 percent of all projects usually have access to a major airport as a necessary element to the decision making process."

Barbara Gann, public relations and marketing director for the Salt Lake City Department of Airports (SLCDA), the agency which operates and manages the airport, says the SLCDA employs approximately 600 workers at the airport, while "thousands more are employed airport-wide with aviation-related companies."

Debt-Free
The airport has an annual operational budget of $110 million, none of which is supported by local tax dollars. Capital projects are supplemented with Airport Improvement Project funds from the federal government, passenger facility charges and state grants. Interestingly, Salt Lake City International Airport is also the only debt-free large hub airport in the nation. During 2008, in reaction to spiking interest rates, the SLCDA made a strategic move to retire its Series 2004A and Series 2004B auction rate bonds, paying them off with cash reserves in the amount of $49,775,000.

"The choice was in reaction to the market, but also to better position us to ultimately take on an Airport Expansion Program currently in development," says Maureen Riley, executive director of the SLCDA. "With the support of the Airport Board, Mayor Becker and the Salt Lake City Council, we were able to quickly respond to this rapid and unpredicted interest rate increase. We were fortunate to have the financial means to nimbly respond."

A Delta Hub
The airport is also home to Delta Air Lines' second largest hub and has become ever more important with the merger of Delta and Northwest Airlines and service by Delta Connection Partners ExpressJet and SkyWest. Southwest Airlines also has a strong Utah presence. Additional carriers serving the Utah market include:

• American Airlines
• Continental Airlines
• United Airlines
• Jet Blue Airlines
• Frontier Airlines
• US Airways

Through December 2008, over 20 million passengers passed through the gates of Salt Lake City International Airport, according to SLCDA data. As of June 2009, the airport experienced more than 450 scheduled airline departures per day to 109 nonstop destinations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as daily nonstop service to Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, France. Forty of the 50 states can be reached non-stop from Salt Lake City.

International Service
From December 2007 to December 2008 the airport's international flights increased some nine percent, a reflection of Delta Air Lines' adjustments to service from Salt Lake City to Canada and Mexico. Delta's nonstop service to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport marked the first scheduled transoceanic route from Salt Lake City. In June 2008, Delta started nonstop service to Tokyo Narita International Airport; however, due to difficult economic conditions and the H1N1 flu outbreak, that service will be suspended from October 1, 2009 until May 14, 2010. Nonetheless, the flights make Tokyo the first city in Asia to receive nonstop service from Salt Lake City.

Gann says the International Terminal at Salt Lake City International Airport has the capacity to handle more than 200 arriving international passengers per hour. The building also houses the United States Federal Inspection Services (including Customs) and permits passengers to recheck baggage, move through screening and proceed to their departing gates. The 90,000-square-foot facility features a 70-foot-long baggage carousel, which is the airport's largest.

Air Freight
Convenient air freight service from Salt Lake City International Airport puts shippers within hours of any point in the nation, Canada and Mexico. Twenty-two cargo carriers, including Airborne Express, Ameriflight, DHL, Emery, FedEx, and United Parcel Service, handle approximately 345 million pounds of air cargo and mail annually.

Expansion
Future airport expansion plans could involve the extension of one runway, the realignment of another and the addition of a fourth parallel runway. Long-term, Gann says the airport may build a new terminal and two new concourses. Ultimately, a single terminal with attached concourses will be the design.

The receipt of $8,570,924 in economic recovery funds allocated by the Federal Aviation Administration will help the airport construct a new taxiway that will serve a future deicing pad for up to eight aircraft using the east runways.

Unlike other metropolitan airports, Salt Lake City International Airport has acquired adequate property for future expansion needs, which will ensure the quality of air service without the problems and delays associated with congestion and overcrowding for many years to come.