Salt Lake City's airport redevelopment reaches final gates after 12 years

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Salt Lake City has spent 12 years rebuilding its airport without ever stopping flights. On October 27 the final seven gates open, completing the $5.1 billion program and bringing the airport to 94 gates.

The redevelopment is the first new hub airport built in the US this century. It replaces a 1960s terminal that was serving roughly 26 million passengers a year, about double what it was designed for, with a complex built to handle 35 million.

Why it matters

The rebuilt airport lifts Delta's western hub from a 60-year-old terminal to a 94-gate complex built for 35 million passengers a year.

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Key Indicators

$5.1B

Total program cost

Four phases of construction from 2014 to 2026, the largest infrastructure project in Utah history.

Aircraft gates

Final gate count after the October 27 handover, plus four hardstand positions.

35M

Annual passenger capacity

The airport kept running for 35 million passengers a year while construction moved around it.

101

Total concessions

Six new concessions open with the final gates on October 27.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

People Involved

Bill Wyatt

Executive director, Salt Lake City Department of Airports

Oversaw the program's completion

Robert Millar

Aviation project director, HNTB

Directed airfield phasing for the lead design firm

Brent Christiansen

Superintendent, Holder Construction and Big D Construction joint venture

Managed heavy crane operations near live taxiways

Organizations Involved

Salt Lake City Department of Airports

Municipal agency

Owner and operator of the airport; led the redevelopment program

The city agency that owns Salt Lake City International Airport and managed the entire redevelopment.

HNTB Corporation

Engineering and design firm

Lead design firm for the redevelopment

Served as aviation design lead, coordinating airfield phasing, crane safety and fuel infrastructure tie-ins.

Holder Construction and Big D Construction (HDJV)

Construction joint venture

Construction manager-at-risk for central terminal, Concourse A and infrastructure

Built the central terminal, Concourse A, parking garages, roadways, tunnels, utilities and airfield paving.

HOK (Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum)

Architecture firm

Terminal architect

Designed the terminal alongside HNTB's civil engineering work.

Austin Commercial and Okland

Construction joint venture

Built Concourse B under a $545 million contract

Constructed Concourse B facilities under a construction manager-at-risk contract.

Timeline

July 2014 October 2026

10 events Latest: Today

Tap a bar to jump to that date

October 2026
Final seven gates open, completing the program
Upcoming Milestone

The last seven gates on Concourse B east open, bringing the airport to 94 gates and ending the $5.1 billion program.
October 27th, 2026
Engineering News-Record reports program completion
Today Report

Engineering News-Record reports the redevelopment reaching completion, with the final seven gates handing over October 27.
Today
July 2026
Four more Concourse B gates open
Milestone

Gates B35, B37, B40 and B42 open on Concourse B east.
July 14th, 2026
October 2025
Remaining Phase 3 gates and first Phase 4 gates open
Milestone

Five remaining Phase 3 gates and five Phase 4 gates open, adding ten gates total.
October 2025
October 2024
Phase 3 opens Central Tunnel and Concourse B plaza
Milestone

The 1,000-foot Central Tunnel connecting both concourses and a Concourse B plaza open with five gates.
October 2024
October 2023
Phase 2 finishes; 1960s terminal demolished
Milestone

Seventeen more gates open and demolition of the six-decade-old original airport begins.
October 2023
May 2023
Phase 2 adds five gates
Milestone

Five gates open on Concourse A east as the second phase advances.
May 2023
October 2020
Concourse B opens first gates
Milestone

Phase 1 completes as Concourse B opens its first gates.
October 27th, 2020
September 2020
Phase 1 opens central terminal
Milestone

The new central terminal and Concourse A west gates open to passengers.
September 15th, 2020
July 2014
Groundbreaking for The New SLC redevelopment
Milestone

The airport breaks ground on a four-phase redevelopment to replace the 1960s terminal.
July 2014

Scenarios

SLC breaks ground on Concourse C

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2029

Discussed by: Salt Lake City Department of Airports officials, including Bill Wyatt

Airport officials say they monitor traffic metrics that would trigger a third concourse to handle growth beyond the new airport's capacity. Wyatt has said a Concourse C would be complicated to build because a large hangar and major underground utilities currently sit where it would go, and both would need relocating first. He said not to expect a new building anytime soon.

SLC annual passenger count tops 35 million

Possible Resolves by Jan 31, 2028

Discussed by: Airport planners who sized the new terminal for future growth

The airport served roughly 26 million passengers a year before the rebuild and was designed to handle 35 million. Traffic grew steadily through the phased openings, and the wider terminal, more gates and expanded baggage handling remove the capacity ceiling the old facility imposed. If growth continues, annual enplanement figures will cross the 35 million mark within a few years.

Delta launches new intercontinental routes from SLC

Possible Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Airport and airline officials who prioritized widebody-capable international gates

The new terminal includes international-capable gates that can handle widebody aircraft, and the redevelopment kept these gates operational throughout construction. Delta Air Lines operates its western hub from Salt Lake City, and the added long-haul gate capacity removes a constraint on new international service. A new nonstop intercontinental route announcement would signal the hub is expanding beyond its historic domestic focus.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

February 1995

Denver International Airport (1995)

Denver's new airport, the last major US hub built before SLC, opened February 28, 1995. It arrived 16 months behind schedule after the automated baggage system failed, and costs ran about $2 billion over estimate. The opening-day struggles made it a cautionary tale for airport megaprojects.

Then

Denver took years to win back passenger confidence, and the baggage system was eventually replaced with a conventional one.

Now

DIA became a template for how not to open a hub airport, and shaped the phased, keep-the-old-terminal-running approach SLC adopted.

Why this matters now

SLC's strategy of building the new airport around the operating one is the direct opposite of DIA's single-day relocation. The redevelopment kept gates, fuel lines and taxiways live for a decade rather than accepting one massive disruption.

1960s-2023

Original Salt Lake City terminal (1960s)

Salt Lake City's previous airport terminal was built in the 1960s, intended for roughly half the travelers it eventually served. By the 2020s it handled more than 26 million passengers a year from a facility designed for a much smaller traffic base, and in 2023 demolition began as part of the redevelopment.

Then

The new terminal absorbed traffic through phased openings between 2020 and 2026, avoiding a capacity cliff.

Now

The 94-gate complex and seismic-resistant design replace a structure built on a former lakebed with no room to expand.

Why this matters now

The new airport's capacity target of 35 million passengers a year is a direct answer to the old terminal's squeeze, where a facility built for half its traffic had run out of room.