The Salt Lake City International Airport’s history can be traced back to 1911, when it was originally used for aerobatic flights. To honor the airport’s long-course service, the Salt Lake City Department of Airports celebrated the 100th Salt Lake City Airport anniversary on December 21st, 2020.
The Utah-based airport ranks No.1 busiest airport in North America, securing the 70th position in the rapid worldwide operations operating more than 370 flights daily in over 99 non-stop destinations. It is operated and managed by the department of the Salt Lake City Corporation, Salt Lake City Departments of Airports.
With the mission to develop and manage a system of airports owned by the SLC corporation providing quality transportation facilities and services optimizing the safety, efficiency and convenience for the passengers, the Salt Lake City Airport is overseen by the city’s mayor, city’s council, and the nine-member advisory board of citizen volunteers.
Salt Lake City Airport Rental Cars
The Salt Lake City airport offers several car rentals agencies to provide convenient access to and out of the airport. The rental car counters of the various agencies are located at the airport’s Gateway Center, which is adjacent to the parking garage. The counter can be reached through the terminal by using the two bridges in the baggage claim area.
On-Airport Rental Car Agencies At SLC
Generally, for the ‘On-Airport’ car rental at the airport itself, the SLC Airport is associated with:
1. Alamo
Alamo is one of the on-airport rental car agencies at the Salt Lake City Airport, founded in 1974; the company is known for low rental fares and a fun, hassle-free customer experience. Operating at popular travel destinations from the US, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Latin America to Pacific Rim, Europe, and Asia, the rental company launched the industry’s first real-time Internet booking engine and online check-in system. Alamo is located at 3923 West Terminal Dr, of the Salt Lake City Airport.
2. Budget
The budget is another popular rental company which offers a reliable vehicle and excellent customer service at a budget price, certainly a name fitting its service. Passengers can find the counter of the budget at the counter on the ground floor of the garage. Both rental cars pickups and returns at the Salt Lake City Airport are located on the campus of the airport, at 641 N 3800 W, Salt Lake City. The company offers various rental packages like SUV rental, long-term car rental, van rental, and luxury car rental services to its clients who are above the age of 21; the surcharge is applicable for patients below 25 years.
3. Dollar
Dollar, founded by Henry J. Caruso as ‘Dollar Rent A Car’ in 1965, operates globally as a well recognized-rental brand. The rental company’s services focus on the philosophy of an expectation service providing high-quality rental vehicles and exceptional customer service. Dollar operates on a global scale providing services to both leisure and business travelers. Dollar operates at low everyday rates and provides a perfect package that meets the budget and plans of the clients; the Dollar Express Reward program of the company offers additional benefits to the customers with the opportunity to earn rewards in the future rental bookings. The rental company is located at 776 Northern terminal Drive at the Salt Lake City Airport.
4. Enterprise
The American rental service company Enterprise was founded in 1957. With the guiding principles revolving around personal honesty and integrity, the American company has earned its way to the list as one of the best rental service providers. The company operates in more than 8,000 locations worldwide, offering its car and truck rentals. The rental company is located at 3923 West Terminal Dr at the airport.
5. National
Renowned for its fastest rent service Emerald Aisle, the rental company offers various vehicles in its service. From luxurious cars, convertible cars, economy class cars, super sports cars to SUVs and vans, National offers 47 vehicle class options to the clients. The rental company also offers free rentals days, Emerald checkout controlling the aisle locations, and Emerald aisle access to its Emerald Club members. The American rental company is located at 3923 West Terminal Dr in the Salt Lake City Airport.
6. Payless
Founded in 1971, Payless Car Rental operates in more than 120 locations in the United States, Canada, South American, and Europe. The rental company is widely known for price-conscious leisure and business plans operations with a hybrid model of corporately operate locations, including the locations operated by the franchisees. Payless is located at 3921 West Terminal Drive in the Salt Lake City Airport.
7. Thrifty
Thrifty Car Rental is the subsidiary company of Hertz, founded in 1958 as Thrifty Rent A Car System; the rental company operates in more than 4,00 locations in conjunction with its parent company Hert and sister company Dollar Car Rental. Among the other rental service providers at the airport, Thrifty is a recognizable cost-conscious business and leisure travel package planner. The Thrifty Car Rental is located at 776 North Terminal Drive of the Salt Lake City Airport.
And, for the off-airport rental services with shuttle services, the travelers can book services with agencies like Ace Rent-A-Car, Affordable, Fox Rent-a-Car, Go Rentals, NU Car rentals, and Rugged Rental.
Salt Lake City Airport Hertz
The passengers of the Salt Lake City Airport will also have an option for Hertz, a global rental car company that has been known for its quality car rental services for over 90 years. The company that started its journey in 1918 selects the car for its rental fleet carefully; the cars in the services of Hertz have to go through extensive pre-delivery inspections and pass all requirements to be accepted as the Hertz Certified Vehicle.
Furthermore, the global company, Hertz, besides car rentals, also offers various services from Hertz Truck & Van services to Hertz Car Sales and Hertz Entertainment Services; the company has specialized in every sector, providing reliable and dependable services worldwide.
Hertz at the Salt Lake City Airport
Hertz operates its rental service from the airport; the passengers can reserve and pick their car from the agency counter at the airport. Operating in the magnificent crossroad of the West and energetic, the diverse capital city, the rental company has several locations around the north and south part of Salt Lake City. The passengers can reach the Downtown within just minutes of receiving the rental car at Hertz’s counter in Salt Lake City Airport.
The rental service provider also offers a wide range collection of cars that the travelers can choose as per their purpose of visit, from the sturdy SUV collection to explore the rugged peak of Utah and enjoy a luxurious, relaxing comfort to driving through Downtown and nearby tourist attraction on a lavishing sports car; the rental company doesn’t fail to find the perfect vehicle for every client.
Salt Lake City Airport Avis
Avis Car Rental, which was established in 1946, is another on-airport car rental agency operating at the Salt Lake City Airport. With the mission to ensure a stress-free car rental experience for the clients, Avis and its subsidiaries operate in over 5,500 locations in more than 165 countries. As one of the world’s well-known car rental companies, Avis has always brought innovative approaches in its rental services, modifying its fleet with modern vehicles. And is the top contender for customer loyalty on a global scale.
The rental company operating as an on-airport rental service provider at the Salt Lake City Airport aims to provide a different experience for both leisure and business travelers. Avis’s counter at the airport is located across the skywalk to the parking garage lobby; after the passengers make the reservation, they can collect their vehicle from the parking garage right behind the Avis rental counter. The rental company provides various lease options from minivans, passenger vans, SUVs to long-term and convertible car rental facilities as per the client’s need. However, Avis offers its renting services to only the clients who are 21 years old and above; also, if the client’s age is between 21 and 24, the company charges $27 daily as an underage surcharge.
Salt Lake City Airport Parking
The Utah-based airport has installed the Parking Guidance System(PGS) at its parking garage to make parking convenient and efficient. The PGS system of the Salt Lake City Airport assists the passengers in locating the parking space. The system provides information about the parking spaces to the passengers on each level of the garage. Furthermore, the PGS system also helps to locate the lost car; passengers have to use the ‘Park Assist’ mobile application and find the Salt Lake City International Airport in the app; after entering the necessary details and car’s license plate number, the passenger will be able to find the location of the car.
Similarly, the advanced color indicating system has been integrated into the system, which determines the nature of the f parking spot.
Green: Green-colored spot identifies the general parking space.
Blue: Blue-colored parking spaces refer to the handicapped parking slots.
Yellow: Yellow-colored spaces represent electric vehicle parking spots/
Red: And, red color indicates that there are no available parking spaces.
Salt Lake City Airport Parking Options and Rates
At the Salt Lake City Airport Parking, the passengers have an option to choose convenient and reliable on-site parking spots where they will be able to choose hourly/daily or economy lot parking spaces which are the closest parking spots to the airport’s terminals.
The passengers can choose from various options like premium, daily, hourly, walking E lot, and long-term economy parking.
| Parking Options at Salt Lake City Airport | Rate per/24 hr |
| Premium Reserved Parking | $55 |
| Daily Garage Parking | $35 |
| Hourly Garage Parking | $35 |
| Walking E Lot | $21 |
| Long-term Economy Parking | $10 |
The Salt Lake City Airport Parking offers Garage Level 2 for its premium parking services, Garage Level 2 and 3 for the daily parking options, and Garage Level 2 to 5 for an hourly-based parking system. There are a total of 135 parking spaces for the short-term parking slots, 106 car-accessible, 23 van-accessible, and six electric vehicle accessible spaces that people with disabilities can use at the economy parking option rate, $10 per day.
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at SLC Parking
The Salt Lake City Airport parking spots consist of 44 electric vehicle charging ports to accommodate the 88 parking spaces allocated for public and passenger use. The dual-charging ports available at the Garage Level 2 at the airport supplies electric power up to 7.2 kilowatts. Further, the EV charging stations at the Salt Lake City Airport also provide an instruction video to the passengers, which they look up to if they have confusion about operating the station. The passengers can download the Parking Guidance System(PGS), which notifies the available EV charging ports; also, the phone call support is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
However, the passengers need to know that they can’t reserve the charging station before their arrival; the EV charging stations operate on a first-come-first-serve basis so that slots can be pretty packed depending on the high season of travel the capital of Utah. The EV charging stations are free of cost, and the airport also has 126 fuel-efficient vehicle parking spaces for the vehicles with a green score of 40 or more as part of its LEED certification.
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About Salt Lake City Airport
The Salt Lake City Airport is located 5miles northwest of the Salt Lake City downtown; the airport has three carrier runways, runway 16/34R, which is approx 12,003 feet long, runway 16R/34L 12,000 feet long, runway 17/35 9.596 feet long, and a general aviation runway which is 4,900 feet long. The airport also has two fire stations and aircraft rescue and fire fighting training center.
Delta Airlines operates its reservation center headquartered at the airport; the Utah-based airlines also host Delta and SkyWest Airline’s maintenance hangars, including the United States Post Office slot. On its financial aspects, the Salt Lake City departments of Airports, an enterprise fund of the Salt Lake City Corporation, is a financially self-sustaining business that manages its finance from the revenue generated by the airlines, including the tenant fees from airlines, PFC, CFC, hangar spaces, and other sources.
$4 Billion Redevelopment Program
The $4 billion renovation project of Salt Lake City is the largest public work in the history of Utah and the first big project of the 21st Century new airport in U.S. history. After two decades of planning and six years of construction, the vision of the renovation project is to introduce Salt City Lake Airport as the most convenient and efficient air transportation center in the world, mastering excellence and unprecedented customer service.
The airport completed Phase I of the New SLC project in September 2020, which included rental car services, quick turnaround facilities, a parking garage, a Central terminal, Concourse A-West, and Concourse B. Phase I emphasized the new 9,09,000 sq ft building and the western portions of two concourses, Concourse A(3,700 feet) and Concourse B(3,400 feet) with a total of 45 new gates and nearly a 1,000 feet passenger tunnels that link the concourses. The reconstructing project also further includes the demolition of the former airport facilities for its Phase II, which is expected to complete by late 2024 or early 2025. As of 2021, the Salt Lake City Airport has begun the construction of a permanent tunnel to connect the Terminal to Concourse B, demolishing the original airport facilities that were built in 1960 and earlier.
The overall $4 billion renovation project is going to improve the passenger experience in the areas like greeting rooms with fireplaces which will be able to accommodate up to 400 passengers at a time. Similarly, 16 high-tech security screening lanes will scree the travelers 30% faster than the traditional method, 3,600 stall parking garage, electronics plugins at each seat throughout the airport, and a 28,000 sq ft Delta’s premium lounge, ‘Delta Sky Club.’
The rebuilding project will also work over the areas like International Terminal, Concourses C, D, F, and G, including the parking garage. Salt Lake City Airport working with two construction manage, HDJV and AOJV, is hoping to secure the LEED Gold Certification. Its sustainable designs aimed to minimize the airport’s environmental footprint with high-performing and energy-efficient mechanisms and configurations are expected to reduce fuel use and aircraft emissions at the airport significantly. After completing the renovation project, the new highly efficient airport will be able to handle up to 34 million passengers in a year.
Innovative Approach
Including the remodeling of the premises, the Salt Lake City Airport is also taking modern-day innovations to comply in its service to make the customer service even more efficient and pleasant. The Utah-based airlines launched a mobile food ordering service SLCtoGO in May 2021.
Servy Grab, mobile food ordering service, launched its services at the Salt Lake City Airport, partnering with Emerging Domestic Market Ventures(EDMV). The SLCtoGO platform powered by Servy’s airport marketplace technology offers convenient and safe food ordering facilities so the airport’s passengers can have an alternative choice from the provided menu or wait in line for the to-go-order. The online food ordering services meeting the demand of time now makes it easier for the passengers to grab their favorite meal at the airport, meeting the hygiene and safety standards.
The customers can order food items offered via a streamlined touchless mobile ordering website o by scanning the Q.R. code. After placing the order, the customers will have options to pick their order at the restaurant or deliver it at their respective terminal gate. One of the amazing features of this newly introduced service by the Salt Lake City Airport is that the food that the customers placed orders for can be delivered by a human or the delivery robot known as ‘Gita,’ a marvelous futuristic feat at the innovative airport. The airport is currently operating the SLCtoGO services with five restaurants, but it plans to increase the range with additional restaurants in the coming days to provide efficient service with wider diverse menus.
Salt Lake City Airport History
The Salt Lake City Airport has a beautiful course of history, from starting as an airmail outpost to evolving into one of the most recognizable air-transport hubs. Starting as “Woodward Field” in 1920, the first commercial flight from the airport took off in 1926 at the Woodward Field. Ben F. Redman and J.A. Tomlinson perched atop U.S. mail sacks on an eight-hour mail delivery flight to Los Angeles. The airfield operating as the Salt Lake City Airport was later renamed to “ Salt Lake City Municipal Airport’ in 1930 with the 400 acres area, 11hangars, and two gravel runways.
The Utah-based airport built an airport administration building including the passenger’s waiting room, mailroom, airport manager’s office, lunchroom, including weather observatory, radio control in 1933. The airport also added a third runway in its premises and leased office space to the airlines. In 1943, the Salt Lake City Airport was turned into a training base and replacement depot for the U.S. Air Force; then, the Salt Lake City Municipal Airport II was built at the Southwest end of the Salt Lake Valley with the purpose of accommodating a large number of trainees.
With the revolution that jetliners brought in the aviation industry, the Salt Lake City Airport started improving and upgrading its runways in 1950. The capital airport equipped its primary runway with Category II Instrument Landing System(ILS) to support the large commercial jetliners. Salt Lake City. From investing in a seven-year development project of $80,00,000 in 1960 for a new terminal( Terminal 1) to renaming itself to “Salt Lake City International Airport” in 1968, the airport acquired 7,500 more acres in its five years of service from 1975 to 1980.
The airport completed its Terminal 2 project in 1978 to house the Western Airlines at the premises; during the same year, SLC Airport also completed another new Executive Terminal at the east side of the airport to serve the need of general aviation and create slots for various agencies extending the west runway and taxiway. In the following year, the capital airport remodeled and expanded its Terminal 1; it became an operational hub for Western Airlines in 1982 and started expanding its Terminal 2 to accommodate the additional concourse. In 1984, the airport again expanded its Terminal 2 to accommodate additional concourse, and by 1985 its ground access improvement was completed, including the rehabilitation of runways and establishment of support units.
The air-transport facility again started expanding process after Western Airlines merged with Delta Airlines in 1987 and built a four-level short-term parking terrace and 18 hole golf course to allow the golfer to watch planes take off and land while enjoying the game. The latter years followed a hangar and training facility for SkyWest Airlines in 1992 and an office to house the National Weather Service at the airport on the east side. By 1995 a third carrier runway, Concourse E, and the International Terminal were completed by the Salt Lake City Airport. The Salt city airport also built a regional Aircraft Rescue Fighter Training center, later shut down in July 2018. The capital airport also became the first tenant in the North Cargo complex with a new processing facility in 1998. Alongside Salt Lake City, it even hosted the Olympics Winter Games in 2002. In its’ over 100 years of service course, the Salt Lake City Airport has been continuously striving to improve its facilities and services to meet the demand of the time without failing to please the customers.
