Salt Lake International Airport Development Thread - Page 44

i-215 · #**861** Posted **Oct 5, 2018, 5:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrendog

I still think the terminal frontage looks way to small for a major airport.

I tend to share the same worry.

My very un-scientific research here indicates that the frontage is a tiny bit larger, but not much.

Makid · #**862** Posted **Oct 5, 2018, 2:03 PM**

The new terminal frontage should be counted based on the multiple levels though where the current is a single level.

Also, with Trax there at the terminal that could count as an additional frontage as well.

I think the overall thought is/was that people would use either the parking garage or Trax.

jtrent77 · #**863** Posted **Oct 5, 2018, 4:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Makid

The new terminal frontage should be counted based on the multiple levels though where the current is a single level.

Also, with Trax there at the terminal that could count as an additional frontage as well.

I think the overall thought is/was that people would use either the parking garage or Trax.

Yes, but that said there are two different "frontages" right now for drop offs and pick ups. I think though the huge advantage to this set up is no longer do you have drops offs having to stop as people leaving the airport are crossing the street.

In reality I don't think the frontage is going to be all that bad, it doesn't really take a ton of time to get dropped off and people will all be arriving at different times. I am sure they didn't just blindly create a frontage scenario and "hoped it worked out."

wrendog · #**864** Posted **Oct 5, 2018, 6:25 PM**

I did a quick comparison of terminal frontage with both San Antonio and Austin airports (two airports I use the most) and the SLC frontage appears to be less than either SAT or AUS. All are multi level terminals...

Wasatch Wasteland · #**865** Posted **Oct 6, 2018, 7:34 PM**

Actually, the terminal frontage could be multiplied by 3 or 4. The first frontage is the third level passenger drop off, the second is the passenger pick up on the south side of the pick up island (which directly accesses the second floor of the terminal via the bridges), the third frontage is the lower terminal level international arrivals/commercial drop off, and the fourth frontage is the commercial pick up on the NORTH side of the pick up island.

I could be wrong on some of the frontage usages, but regardless, there are 4 separate pick up/drop of zones that have ZERO crossings or congestion opportunities, and are independent of each other as far as passenger’s travel axis. To recap: they are the third level terminal drop off, the first level terminal drop off, the SOUTH side island pick up, and the NORTH side island pick up.

So in reality, you can multiply the terminal frontage by 4. In regards to Austin and San Antonio, which have 2 potential frontages, SLC will have 4 potential frontages. The terminal is built to be expanded by 25% on either end for a 50% frontage increase as well. Worst case scenario they convert the lower level terminal frontage to a secondary drop off for non-delta flights or something, wouldn’t need any new construction just different signage. Same goes for the pickup island’s north side. Hopefully this eases some worries. The potential capacity for such a small terminal frontage is actually pretty innovative. Not to mention the pick up island and lower level terminal drop off are significantly LONGER than the terminal itself.

The problem of size isn’t the frontage lengths or passenger/vehicle movements, it’s baggage claim and airline check-in capacity. That’s where this innovative design falls short. Sure you’ve quadrupled the amount of people and vehicles that can access the same amount of terminal frontage, but that doesn’t mean you’ve quadrupled the size of the baggage handling system or the space needed for airline check in. Check in is being compensated for by the large gateway center check in area, which increases total check in space by about 50%, but it’s the baggage pickup that is the Achilles heel in this design, which doesn’t increase at all from a 1 or 2 frontage terminal design.

Sight-Seer · #**866** Posted **Oct 22, 2018, 1:46 AM**

Some recent photos:

delts145 · #**867** Posted **Oct 23, 2018, 10:38 AM**

Get a glimpse into what the new Salt Lake City International Airport will look like

By Katie McKellar @KatieMcKellar1
Published: October 22, 2018 6:49 pm - Additional Photos and full artical at https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...kes-shape.html

SALT LAKE CITY — As the $3.6 billion redesign of the Salt Lake City International Airport soars along toward the 2020 opening of its first phase, some finishing details have already begun emerging.

There are copper colored exterior panels, meant to mimic Utah's characteristic red rock. Reddish-brown, metallic tiles also line some interior walls. Some bathrooms have also nearly been completed.

Those details include the first glimpses of how the new airport will look when travelers will first be able to step foot inside the south concourse next year, the first of two concourses expected to be finished by the end of 2020.

Airport officials on Monday gave media another behind-the-scenes tour of the massive construction site, providing a progress update on the state's largest public project to date...

... among all the new, there was one old feature that has been waiting more than a decade to be revealed. The Media
got the first glimpse of a tunnel that was first planned in the late 1990s and completed 14 years ago, in 2004, in anticipation of the massive airport re-design.

A tunnel in what will be Concourse A at the new Salt Lake City International Airport is pictured on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. The tunnel will house a future tram for access to a third terminal. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

..."The project really couldn't be built without this tunnel being in place," Mike Williams, airport redevelopment program director, said as he led Monday's tour. "It would be much more difficult to phase our way through this project."

The tunnel, which stretches beneath the taxiway, will also have moving walkways to help travelers quickly connect with the north concourse — also expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

Later on, another more central tunnel will connect the two parallel concourses, planned for phase 2 of the project, Williams said...So far, with about 700 days to go until the first phase's 2020 opening, the re-design has been tracking on schedule and on budget, according to Williams.

"The project is going really well," he said...

Tunnel, Video Link: https://youtu.be/UnN_x9t7SFE

The current short-term parking structure at the Salt Lake City International Airport is reflected in what will be Concourse A's large glass wall on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

Cranes are pictured outside what will be the new Salt Lake City International Airport's Concourse A on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

Mike Williams, director of the Salt Lake City International Airport terminal redevelopment program, holds up a rope barrier for members of the media during a tour of the new airport on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

An entrance to a men's restroom in what will be Concourse A at the new Salt Lake City International Airport is pictured on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Some of the design elements in the concourse are nearing completion. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

The baggage system tunnel in what will be the Salt Lake City International Airport's new Concourse A is pictured during a tour of the new airport on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

An elevated roadway under construction at the Salt Lake City International Airport is pictured from inside the current short-term parking structure on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

soulcapn · #**868** Posted **Oct 24, 2018, 4:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wasatch Wasteland

The problem of size isn’t the frontage lengths or passenger/vehicle movements, it’s baggage claim and airline check-in capacity. That’s where this innovative design falls short. Sure you’ve quadrupled the amount of people and vehicles that can access the same amount of terminal frontage, but that doesn’t mean you’ve quadrupled the size of the baggage handling system or the space needed for airline check in. Check in is being compensated for by the large gateway center check in area, which increases total check in space by about 50%, but it’s the baggage pickup that is the Achilles heel in this design, which doesn’t increase at all from a 1 or 2 frontage terminal design.

I could be wrong, but I believe the new systems will be more efficient, and function better, even though they appear to be about the same size. (maybe a little bigger)

It is not an apples to apples comparison. The old airport is a cobbled together mix of systems and buildings, built at different times, by different manufacturers and forced to work together by years of incremental growth.

It is actually amazing that SLC works as well as it does. The new SLC will have a fully integrated system, designed with the building, and built to be expanded in a planned orderly way. This alone will increase efficiency in the check in process and in the baggage handling system. A lot of planning, math, engineering, and design has gone into building a better system. I bet we find it just works better than what we are accustomed to.

All this planning might prove fruitless... but I am choosing optimism.

airhero · #**869** Posted **Nov 7, 2018, 1:17 AM**

I do share concerns about future terminal expansion limitations and the lack of funding for the TRAX flyover. I think the flyover bridge will be built eventually, but if it's not now will be a long time until it happens.

Mountain man · #**870** Posted **Nov 8, 2018, 9:12 PM**

seventwenty · #**871** Posted **Nov 9, 2018, 9:20 PM**

Updates on general aviation at SLC:
https://www.flyingmag.com/salt-lake-...ions-off-field

delts145 · #**872** Posted **Nov 11, 2018, 4:18 PM**

Below is a list of the top quality 15 ranking airports.

Despite Overcrowding and construction Salt Lake City International Airport soars to number 2 in quality ranking.

By Lee Davidson, The Salt Lake Tribune - https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...-overcrowding/

Salt Lake City International Airport was designed for 10 million passengers a year, but it now handles nearly 27 million. The result? Parking lots fill. Waiting areas often have more passengers than seats. It has few lounges. Concessions are crowded. But the airport still just flew to a No. 2 best overall ranking among America’s 30 busiest airports — and was just barely edged out of the top spot. And the ranking comes amid a massive ongoing $3.6 billion project to rebuild the airport. “It’s amazing,” said Bill Wyatt, airport director for the past year. “As a relative newcomer, I’m amazed at how well this place operates.”The Points Guy, a travel website, released its annual Best Airports report Thursday, and it ranked Salt Lake City as No. 2 behind only Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The No. 3 ranking went to Portland, Ore., where Wyatt was director before taking the Salt Lake City job.The bottom rankings in the new report all went to three airports serving New York City: John F. Kennedy International at the bottom, followed by LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International. The rankings are based on such things as on-time flight statistics, amenities, how accessible it is to the city, the cost of an Uber or Lyft to get there, the number of restaurants versus the number of passengers, and more...

...Where could it do better? “Salt Lake could use a few more restaurants for the number of passengers it sees, and it has negligible lounge presence,” Kheel said. “It also needs to catch up to most other major U.S. airports in implementing environmentally friendly initiatives.”
Wyatt said the airport is already well on the way to doing all of that and more as it is building a new terminal, concourses and a parking garage to replace existing facilities — and is doing that on site without disrupting operations. The first phase of the new airport is scheduled to open in fall 2020. “It is going to be a genuine state-of-the-art facility — and will be operated by the same people who are already getting us this No. 2 award. So maybe No. 1 is on the horizon,” Wyatt said.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune The new Salt Lake City International Airport expansion project, Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. The first phase construction of the $3.6 billion project is due to open in 700 days.
Nearing completion is the new concourse for aircraft gates, an enclosed terminal, the steel skeleton of a new "gateway" building, a five-story parking garage and elevated roadways.

LINK: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/best-...airports-2018/

.

Cirrus · #**873** Posted **Nov 12, 2018, 3:10 AM**

SLC vs Denver debates are not allowed.

If you don't like another person's contributions to the forum, there is an "ignore" feature which you are welcome to use. Do not derail threads with personal attacks.

Old&New · #**874** Posted **Nov 12, 2018, 5:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cirrus

SLC vs Denver debates are not allowed.

If you don't like another person's contributions to the forum, there is an "ignore" feature which you are welcome to use. Do not derail threads with personal attacks.

Is there a way to save posts as favorites, so I can always repost this?

Cirrus · #**875** Posted **Nov 12, 2018, 6:24 AM**

lol. Sort of. In the upper right corner of every post, there is a number (in the case of that post, it's #873). That number provides the url to that specific post. You can click that number and then bookmark that URL.

It's an old forum.

Ironweed · #**876** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 1:52 AM**

Here is a naive question. I have not been following the discussion on this link much. Is the north concourse a go? Or is their uncertainty to its construction?

jtrent77 · #**877** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 4:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironweed

Here is a naive question. I have not been following the discussion on this link much. Is the north concourse a go? Or is their uncertainty to its construction?

it's happening

jubguy3 · #**878** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 6:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironweed

Here is a naive question. I have not been following the discussion on this link much. Is the north concourse a go? Or is their uncertainty to its construction?

Yep, north concourse was approved in may of 2016. they have already started major structural work, i am pretty sure all of the piles have been driven and the steel is coming up quickly. north concourse west is scheduled to open in september of 2020 with 30 gates; the east portion in its current phasing is only 15 gates but sooner or later the SLCDA may announce their intention to do the full 30 gates for north concourse east to open in one phase in 2024. the airport is expected to reach capacity by 2026 but the decision really depends on what the labor market is like and what bond rates and the financial market are like at the time they secure those deals. i don’t know for how much longer the airport can continue to drain the rest of utah’s construction industry and only so much can be done at a time, but because the airport has a favorable financial condition despite going from a $1bn surplus to $2bn in debt i think it will come down to if the estimates really do show that those additional 15 gates will be necessary.

the question right now is about those 15 gates and a third concourse. i know that delta invested in the project to upgrade lounge areas and widen the north concourse for increased capacity including international capacity so it’s obvious that they are committed to SLC but i don’t know if they would be willing to push for those extra gates themselves. i am sure they are excited to be in the new airport because having to stagnate growth sucks for delta especially in a market like SLC.

Makid · #**879** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 4:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jubguy3

Yep, north concourse was approved in may of 2016. they have already started major structural work, i am pretty sure all of the piles have been driven and the steel is coming up quickly. north concourse west is scheduled to open in september of 2020 with 30 gates; the east portion in its current phasing is only 15 gates but sooner or later the SLCDA may announce their intention to do the full 30 gates for north concourse east to open in one phase in 2024. the airport is expected to reach capacity by 2026 but the decision really depends on what the labor market is like and what bond rates and the financial market are like at the time they secure those deals. i don’t know for how much longer the airport can continue to drain the rest of utah’s construction industry and only so much can be done at a time, but because the airport has a favorable financial condition despite going from a $1bn surplus to $2bn in debt i think it will come down to if the estimates really do show that those additional 15 gates will be necessary.

the question right now is about those 15 gates and a third concourse. i know that delta invested in the project to upgrade lounge areas and widen the north concourse for increased capacity including international capacity so it’s obvious that they are committed to SLC but i don’t know if they would be willing to push for those extra gates themselves. i am sure they are excited to be in the new airport because having to stagnate growth sucks for delta especially in a market like SLC.

From what I have heard they are actively looking at doing a full build out of the North Concourse to have it completed in 2024.

I would expect the tunnel work for the third concourse to be bid out soon if they aren't already built only because it would save time and costs in the future.

JMK · #**880** Posted **Nov 13, 2018, 5:47 PM**

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...-overcrowding/

Despite overcrowding and construction, Salt Lake City International Airport soars to No. 2 in quality ranking

Quote:

Salt Lake City International Airport was designed for 10 million passengers a year, but it now handles nearly 27 million.

The result? Parking lots fill. Waiting areas often have more passengers than seats. It has few lounges. Concessions are crowded.

But the airport still just flew to a No. 2 best overall ranking among America’s 30 busiest airports — and was just barely edged out of the top spot. And the ranking comes amid a massive ongoing $3.6 billion project to rebuild the airport.

he cost of an Uber or Lyft to get there, the number of restaurants versus the number of passengers, and more.

“Salt Lake City owes itself a pat on the back, as it improved in every broad category it could, except where it was already No. 1,” said Julian Kheel, editorial director at The Points Guy. Salt Lake did rank No. 1 for on-time flight performance among the nation’s 30 busiest airports.

“So why didn’t Salt Lake beat Phoenix Sky Harbor? It was incredibly close,” Kheel said.

“But PHX had a slight edge in our ‘accessibility’ criteria, meaning Sky Harbor was ever-so-slightly more convenient to get to than SLC. It also had cheaper parking, somewhat better public transportation to the airport, and was a little easier on the wallet if you were taking an Uber.”

But Kheel said Salt Lake “excelled in avoiding delays, cancellations and was among the best in relatively quick connections.”

Where could it do better? “Salt Lake could use a few more restaurants for the number of passengers it sees, and it has negligible lounge presence,” Kheel said. “It also needs to catch up to most other major U.S. airports in implementing environmentally friendly initiatives.”

Wyatt said the airport is already well on the way to doing all of that and more as it is building a new terminal, concourses and a parking garage to replace existing facilities — and is doing that on site without disrupting operations. The first phase of the new airport is scheduled to open in fall 2020.

“It is going to be a genuine state-of-the-art facility — and will be operated by the same people who are already getting us this No. 2 award. So maybe No. 1 is on the horizon,” Wyatt said.

"There is kind of a family spirit here that you just are not going to see in every airport. Whether it is an airline or the airport or TSA or Customs and Border Protection, people really work closely together to create an experience that, evidently, is second to only one,” he said.

Wyatt said that has made a big difference as the airport struggles with overcrowding and ongoing construction.

“Every square centimeter that we could lease to a concessionaire is leased,” he said. “It’s still just not enough. That’s one of the things driving us to build a new airport. The pressure to provide that service is pretty intense.” He praised concessionaires for providing “a service that is as good as possible in a facility that is so overwhelmed.”

Wyatt also noted, “To be honest, being five minutes from downtown Salt Lake is pretty amazing. Most airports are a half hour to 40 minutes away from the central city. I think that makes a real difference.”

Also, he said being a hub for Delta Air Lines makes a difference. “Because it’s a hub for them, they really focus intensely on their operations. So on-time arrival and departure are very important to them.”