The Salt Lake City Airport is getting a makeover. Tuesday is the grand opening of the first phase of renovations.
The Salt Lake City Airport started a $4 billion renovation in 2014. Six years later, the first concourse and terminal will open.
Bill Wyatt is the executive director of the airport. He said the facility was overdue for an update.
"That is the reason why we're opening this brand new airport because Salt Lake was simply out of room and wasn't keeping up with the growth that has occurred in the travel business here in Salt Lake both for business and for pleasure," he said.
But despite all the increased space at the new airport, Wyatt said there are less people flying since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"On a typical day last year at this time, we might have 25,000 people at the front door and that doesn't include the connecting passengers. Today, I think we have pretty close to 10,000. So you can see that's a pretty significant difference.
Wyatt said the timing of the new airport is still optimal, though. Now, they could introduce new health and safety measures.
"There is so much more room available for social distancing." Wyatt said. 'So when people come into the new airport, they're going to find hand sanitizing stations everywhere. No touch appliances in the bathroom so you can go Wash your hands and dry your hands without ever actually touching anything. The gates and seats at the gates all have social distance marking, as do the ticket counters."
Wyatt said he’s optimistic about the future of the travel industry. And even though there are less travelers now, he thinks the industry will eventually make a come back.
"I think there will be an initial burst of people who are really experiencing cabin fever and just need to get out there and when people are more comfortable I don't think personal and leisure travel is going to change that much," he said. "I'm not really concerned about the future of the industry."
Wyatt said Delta is the only carrier using the new gates for the next six weeks until Concourse B opens October 27. He said that’s also when phase two of the renovations will begin, which includes demolishing the old airport to build new concourses.
