Salt Lake International Airport Development Thread

[kjnslSLC]

Originally Posted by Paniolo Man

Kansas City is getting them. Not exactly the same climate, but not that far off either.

I won't pretend that cost wasn't part of the equation.

At the completion of the Concourse B extension there will be nearly 100 gates. For a terminal and concourses ripe with windows and viewing opportunities, the (what appears to be) 5-10x cost of glass jet bridges just doesn't make much sense - especially at that scale.

[Wasatch Wasteland]

My Pilot friend that flies the a330's for Delta has confirmed that they'll be one of the pilots flying the Incheon route next summer from Salt Lake. Which would confirm it will be Delta on an a330, not Korean Air on a 787, flying the route. Still unofficial currently, hashing out detailed logistics it sounds like. The friend is unaware of an announcement next week though.

Although, it may not be permanent, rather, an experiment to see whether additional Seattle-Incheon frequency or a separate Salt Lake route is more successful.

Also potentially additional frequency to either Paris or Amsterdam this summer, the London route is not doing too hot. I'd be interested to see if when Delta pulls out of London to Salt Lake and swaps that frequency to an additional Paris or Amsterdam slot, if British Airways might try to swoop in.

Side note, Salt Lake has already reached pre-pandemic travel numbers, recording 26 Million passengers again this past year.

[Paniolo Man]

Originally Posted by kjnslSLC

I won't pretend that cost wasn't part of the equation.

At the completion of the Concourse B extension there will be nearly 100 gates. For a terminal and concourses ripe with windows and viewing opportunities, the (what appears to be) 5-10x cost of glass jet bridges just doesn't make much sense - especially at that scale.

The hell they cost 5-10x as much.

And while the glass structure might be more expensive at larger airfields, smaller airports show that the increase may not be as bad for them. According to the Wichita Business Journal, the city had originally set aside $9.6 million for the glass jet bridges. When the airport was told it would pay $8.8 million for new bridges and it was only a 1.5 percent increase in cost compared to steel, the city council voted unanimously in favor of the translucent type.

Perhaps SLC's cost would have been a little larger of a difference, but even then it seems that you are greatly overstating the cost difference.

Kansas City paid 31.5 Million for 39 glass jet bridges.

Since SLC's installations are subcontracted i'm not exactly sure how much they paid for the bridges they got, but the difference can't have been that much.

[stayinginformed]

Originally Posted by SLCHenry

DL is rumored to announce SLC-ICN, LAX-ICN/AKL next week. Hope this is real this time.

That would be awesome. I would much rather fly through Seoul rather than LAX/SEA on the way to Asia.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by wrendog

I see you read airliners.net too

Actually, I follow the news on the aviation related forums. I went on Airliners.Net and Flyertalk, too. But I still on FlyerTalk.

[kjnslSLC]

Originally Posted by Paniolo Man

Since SLC's installations are subcontracted i'm not exactly sure how much they paid for the bridges they got, but the difference can't have been that much.

I think the reality here is a lot of factors. Cost to purchase, cost to operate/maintain, and perhaps above all the desire to source over 2/3 of the trade locally - JBT AeroTech (who makes the jet bridges used at SLC) is based in Ogden. Although it looks like they produce glass ones as well.

And, like I said, I don’t really see the need.

[Paniolo Man]

Originally Posted by kjnslSLC

I think the reality here is a lot of factors. Cost to purchase, cost to operate/maintain, and perhaps above all the desire to source over 2/3 of the trade locally - JBT AeroTech (who makes the jet bridges used at SLC) is based in Ogden. Although it looks like they produce glass ones as well.

And, like I said, I don’t really see the need.

JBT does make glass jet bridges in Ogden. In fact they are one of two companies in the US that makes glass jet bridges. There is one parked outside their facility visible from street view.


And I'll agree to disagree on seeing the need.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by kjnslSLC

Cost isn't really the issue, climate is. They already struggle to adequately heat and cool the current ones, glass ones would be so much worse.

The only places I've ever seen these is airports with cool, temperate climates (CDG and AMS are ones that come to mind).

According to the internet, it's apparently also discouraged by fire code due to potential congestion (from people stopping to look at things).

Wait! Did you just call Paris and Amsterdam cool, temperate climates? Paris and Amsterdam get down to 20° in the winter and Paris hit 105° last summer, although the summer high is ususally mid-90s, Amsterdam mid-80s.

[airhero]

I’d definitely say Paris and Amsterdam have temperate summers. Paris CAN get over 100 but so can San Diego and even SF. And usually you do see 90 at some point and especially 80 F in the summer but the average high in the hottest month is high 70s in Paris and low 70s in Amsterdam, which could easily be described as temperate.

[kjnslSLC]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Wait! Did you just call Paris and Amsterdam cool, temperate climates? Paris and Amsterdam get down to 20° in the winter and Paris hit 105° last summer, although the summer high is ususally mid-90s, Amsterdam mid-80s.

Yes, I did. Extremes don’t define a climate.

[Paniolo Man]

Originally Posted by kjnslSLC

Yes, I did. Extremes don’t define a climate.

Always fascinates me that Amsterdam is that pleasant considering how it is further north than Calgary.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by kjnslSLC

Yes, I did. Extremes don’t define a climate.

There were only 15 days below 80º in Paris last summer and over 20 above 90º. That's the new normal. Those averages are pre-climate change historic averages.

[kjnslSLC]

Originally Posted by Stenar

There were only 15 days below 80º in Paris last summer and over 20 above 90º. That's the new normal. Those averages are pre-climate change historic averages.

And with that same logic, the airports were designed and built in those periods.

Unless they are the world's worst statisticians, these averages are rolling, and will eventually capture any persistent patterns.

[i-215]

Honestly, I'm 99% certain we don't have glass jetways because Delta didn't care about having glass jetways. Everything premium in that airport really came down to Ed Bastian picking up the phone, calling Bill Wyatt an saying, "We want X, Y, Z. We'll mail you a check for it."

If Delta wanted glass jetways, we'd have 'em. Delta doesn't care.

(I'm sure glass jetways work just fine in any climate. And SLC is not *that* extreme.)

[airhero]

I apologize to all for hijacking this thread talking about European weather.

Originally Posted by Stenar

There were only 15 days below 80º in Paris last summer and over 20 above 90º. That's the new normal. Those averages are pre-climate change historic averages.

Where are you getting these numbers?

According to official measurements at Charles de Gaulle:

https://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie-mensuelle/07157/septembre/2022/roissy-charles-de-gaulle.html

43 days with a high under 80, 38 in the 80s, and 11 with a high over 90 for this last summer (Jun 21-Sep 20, 2022), which was an especially hot one. Orly measurements were very similar. In 2021 Paris broke 90 only once, and it wasn't even in the summer (June 16).

I get your point about it getting warmer due to climate change but for the time being I would describe Paris as temperate still, though it's certainly subjective.

[Atlas]

Originally Posted by Paniolo Man

Always fascinates me that Amsterdam is that pleasant considering how it is further north than Calgary.

Another crazy one to think about is that Rome and NYC are on almost the same latitude. The Gulf Stream is an amazing thing.

[Paniolo Man]

Got these yesterday morning on my way to warmer holidays. Tried to get more but it was difficult because of the lighting and the plane window being covered in ice/glycol.

South Concourse East.



North Concourse East.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by Paniolo Man

Got these yesterday morning on my way to warmer holidays. Tried to get more but it was difficult because of the lighting and the plane window being covered in ice/glycol.

South Concourse East.



North Concourse East.

Wow! Excellent photos! Thanks for sharing this! I did see the concourse B East construction in background. It's really coming along nicely! Still ongoing construction.

[Reeder113]

I'm confused about the gap between Concourse B and the new B East wing. Why is it taking so long for them to start vertical construction on that section?

[kjnslSLC]

Originally Posted by Reeder113

I'm confused about the gap between Concourse B and the new B East wing. Why is it taking so long for them to start vertical construction on that section?

I assume it has something to do with central tunnel access? Maybe they're waiting to finish up moving walkway work or something before closing that off?