Bill Wyatt: Gateway to Utah - The New SLC

The new Salt Lake City International Airport provides the closest gateway in the world to such a diversity of skiing and riding. Opened in September 2020, the new SLC is one of the world’s most innovative and eco-friendly airports, providing a welcome mat for upwards of 30,000 passengers a day. Last Chair sat down with Executive Director Bill Wyatt to learn more about why SLC is turning heads with visitors from around the world.

Salt Lake City International Airport's Executive Director Bill Wyatt in the new airport. (Martha Howe)

Wyatt, who grew up in Oregon where he ran the Portland International Airport and the city’s maritime port, thought he was retiring in 2017. But a few days later, he took a recruiter’s call and landed in Salt Lake City. Taking over the construction project, he saw it to conclusion then shepherded the airport through the pandemic, ultimately saving two years and hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings through an ingenious plan that took advantage of low passenger counts in 2020.

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Our Last Chair interview with Wyatt took place in the airport’s bustling Central Plaza, just inside security and in the midst of Utah restaurants such as Market Street Grill and Roosters. The affable Wyatt was quite at home, excitedly talking about the airport and the role it plays welcoming thousands of visitors each day.

Here’s a sample of Last Chair’s episode 6 with airport leader Bill Wyatt. Listen in to learn more in what was a fun conversation that showcases the welcoming atmosphere at the new SLC.

Last Chair Podcast host Tom Kelly interviewing executive director Bill Wyatt in the SLC International Airport. (Martha Howe)

Bill, to start, give us a sense of perspective of the Salt Lake City Airport?

We're 20th largest in the country and that is largely because we're a Delta Air Lines hub – 70% of their traffic connects through Salt Lake. Without being a connecting hub, we would probably have 45 or so nonstop flights. Today, I think we have about 95. During the pandemic, obviously not something any of us ever anticipated, Salt Lake was one of the fastest to return to service. And today I think we stand as the most recovered airport in the country in terms of airplane seats in the market. And that has a lot to do with why we're here talking. During the pandemic, there was a point at which people just said, ‘you know what, I'm getting out of my basement. I'm going to go somewhere.’ They weren't going to go to New York City. They weren't going to Disneyland. But they did come to Salt Lake because they could go skiing or they could go to the national parks or up into the desert. And we're continuing to see very strong volumes for all of that.

The idea of creating scale and spaciousness was very important because, you know, frankly, travel can be stressful and this is a really nice, comfortable place to be. - Airport Executive Director Bill Wyatt

On that note, just how did the pandemic impact traffic at SLC?

I always look at how many people are going to arrive at the front door, because that's where you really have to pay attention. And a big day for us is 30,000 people. And that February (2020), I think we had two or three of those days. In late March (2020), I remember standing on the sky bridge to my office, which was above Terminal A, for 10 minutes and not seeing a single passenger. And we were at that point about five months from opening (the new airport). So it was obviously concerning. Tom Kelly: We're going to talk a little bit more about the plan. And I know we'll dive back into some of the benefits that pandemic actually brought to your construction. But just to talk a little bit about the airport itself and maybe if you could elaborate on what your specific role is. I know that you oversee the whole thing, but what are some of the areas that are really big focal points for you in managing the Salt Lake City International Airport?

Bill Wyatt at the SLC International Airport. (Martha Howe)

Going back in time, why did Salt Lake City decide to invest in a new airport?

The old airport was designed to handle about 10 million annual passengers and in its last full year of operation did just a little over 28. The old airport really couldn't handle much more. It certainly couldn't handle any more aircraft. It was old. It was not designed as a hub. I always hold up my hand when I talk about the old airport because that's what it looked like. You know, you had these five fingers or five concourses that were connected. And if there was a single aircraft movement in between any two of those fingers, everything else came to a stop. And so this airport is designed as a 21st century hub airport where no aircraft ever has to wait for another one to get out of its way, which has, by the way, enormous positive environmental benefits, because the old airport caused a lot of jet fuel to be burned unnecessarily because of that design feature.

On that point, how important was sustainability in the new airport plan?

The decision was made to go for gold LEED standard. The way that this was accomplished was a tremendous focus on energy efficiency. The little bag tugs that take the bags back and forth from the planes -- they're all electric now. They're not actually allowed to have internal combustion engines in the bag halls or underneath the building at all. Natural light harvesting – a tremendous amount of environmental automation that goes with the building we use today, less electricity in this building than we did in the old airport, which I think is a sign of the effort that was undertaken. Little things like free flowing dual taxi lanes in all directions means that planes are taxiing less on the ground and getting out of here quicker, which means a huge amount of carbon savings. So the day the new airport opened, I like to say, was probably the best day for air quality in this valley in a very, very long time.

What are the key milestones coming up over the next few years?

So the milestones that are in front of us, we recently completed one milestone, which is to allow for aircraft to taxi over the top of what we call the central tunnel. The next big milestone will occur in May when the first four gates on A Concourse East, which is currently under construction, open. The following November, all of the A concourse opens. And then the following fall, the central tunnel will open.  And it will significantly improve the customer experience. I am confident that we will begin construction of a 16 gate expansion (on Concourse B), something that was not really anticipated for several years, which will conclude in 2027. And that means in the space of seven years, Salt Lake will have gone from an airport that had 52 jet bridges to one with 94 jet bridges. And that growth is really a mirror reflection of what's been happening in the economy of this value, this valley to the ski industry, the tourism industry, just the tremendous growth that we all can see with our own eyes.

What are some unique elements for skiers?

The ski industry had a lot to do with various design elements of the airport. The bag belts where the agent puts your bag is a full foot wider than a conventional bag belt, and that is to accommodate oversized bags like skis, snowboards, golf clubs. When you are an arriving passenger, you go out into the bag hall to grab your bags and your ski bag is on a vertical carousel. So it's a lot easier to pick off. And I might say for those skiers who've had their four or five days of skiing and then are going home, we've we're making some adjustments here that I think are going to be tremendously well received. One, if you take a shuttle down from Park City, for example, and arrive at level one, which is the ground floor, you can get off there and go directly in and check in and then move through the checkpoint from level one itself. You don't have to go up three stories to do that. The other thing that Delta is going to do this season – I'm very excited for this – they're working with the resorts to allow customers to check their oversized bag at the resort. It'll be delivered sometime during the night to the airport, go through the bag check area, and the skier will see their bag when they arrive at their destination. 

What has made Utah special to you in the five years since you moved here?

I'm always impressed by wherever I am – I can be down in southern Utah, I can be up north, I can be east of here. People are genuinely very nice. They they reach out, they're pleasant. A friend of mine said to me, when the pioneers first arrived in this valley, it wasn't entirely clear for about 20 years they were going to make it. You're going to make it if you put your arms around other people and help pull the wagon, so to speak. And I definitely have that feel here. It's very special.

Executive Director Bill Wyatt recording the podcast at the SLC International Airport. (Martha Howe)

Transcript

Tom Kelly: |00:00:00| Well, Last Chair is here today at the new Salt Lake City International Airport. Don't worry. We are not going anywhere. We're here today with the executive director of the airport, Bill Wyatt. And, Bill, thanks for joining us here in the plaza.

Bill Wyatt: |00:00:11| Hey, you bet. I've been looking forward to this.

Tom Kelly: |00:00:13| So give me an idea for our listeners. Where are we in the airport right now?

Bill Wyatt: |00:00:17| This is sort of the town center of the airport. People have just come out of the security checkpoint and they come out into the plaza before they either stop maybe and have a bite or head up to the Sky Club or move on to their gate.

Tom Kelly: |00:00:35| You know, we're surrounded by two of my favorite places here right now. On one side, we have Roosters, which is based up in Ogden. On the other we have the Market Street Grill. One of the things that just struck me when I first saw the airport just over two years ago, is the spaciousness. And sitting here in the plaza right now, just looking around, you have a real feeling that you're actually in the open air.

Bill Wyatt: |00:00:58| Yes. And I think, you know, a great deal of thought went into the design of the airport, which has been really in the works for the better part of 30 years. And I think the idea of creating scale and spaciousness was very important because, you know, frankly, travel can be stressful and this is a really nice, comfortable place to be. You can sit right against the glass curtain wall and look out at the action on the airfield, or you can sit down and have a meal at Market Street or Roosters, or just sit here and relax.

Tom Kelly: |00:01:34| Yeah, it just really has a good feel. Now on this podcast we have an audience of skiers and snowboarders. We're going to talk airport today, but since you arrived here at Salt Lake, you really upped your ski game, haven't you?

Bill Wyatt: |00:01:46| Oh, I have. I mean, and it's been so easy to do because my house is, you know, in 40 minutes I'm buckled up and ready to go at the base of the mountain. So and the best snow in the world, really. So I have enjoyed it very, very much.

Tom Kelly: |00:02:03| For those who aren't here with us, Bill is sporting a Deer Valley vest today. Is that your resort of choice?

Bill Wyatt: |00:02:08| It is. I'm an Ikon pass holder. We, my partner and I, like to ski in the middle of the week, which I think is terrific for locals. And so, yeah, we're looking forward to a great ski season.

Tom Kelly: |00:02:20| Yeah, it is. It is amazing. There are so many resorts that are within driving distance of Salt Lake City. Let's get a little bit about your background. You spent most of your career in Portland, Oregon. Give us an idea of your background and what it was that led you here to Salt Lake City.

Bill Wyatt: |00:02:34| So, yeah, I was born and raised in Oregon. I actually was born in Astoria, Oregon, which is at the mouth of the Columbia River and lived there all my life. I spent seven years as the chief of staff to the governor of Oregon and then nearly 17 years as the executive director of the Port of Portland, which owns the Portland International Airport and several other maritime facilities. And, you know, after 17 years, I was ready for something new. So I retired. And literally three days after I retired, I got a call from the search firm that was doing the search for this job. And I didn't know at that time a lot about it, but I began inquiring around on the industry and, you know, as I got my head wrapped around what was happening here, it was very clear that what was happening in Salt Lake can't really happen anywhere else in the United States for a variety of reasons. And I just thought, you know, what an opportunity. I want to be part of that.

Tom Kelly: |00:03:33| What was the size of the Portland Airport compared to Salt Lake City?

Bill Wyatt: |00:03:37| Well, that's a really good question. Salt Lake City has more total annual passengers. You know, this year will be in the neighborhood of 28 million. In ordinary times, Portland would be sort of 18 or 19. Portland has more local traffic, though, than Salt Lake does because we're a connecting hub and they're not.

Tom Kelly: |00:03:58| Yeah, that is a big difference. So how long did it take you to kind of think, yeah, this would be an interesting move for us.

Bill Wyatt: |00:04:06| I think not very long, frankly, because I just started, as I said, poking around in the industry and getting a sense for it. And the people I knew just said, you know, if you're prepared at this point in your life to go move somewhere, that would be a great opportunity. And it was a great time for me to do that. And so I got here five years ago this month.

Tom Kelly: |00:04:27| How do you spend any time in Utah before that?

Bill Wyatt: |00:04:29| Boy, 10 minutes, you know. Not very much. I arrived here and I literally knew two people in Utah. The mayor and her chief of staff. So it's been a ride, but a great one.

Tom Kelly: |00:04:44| Just kind of setting airports aside, what are some of the attributes of Utah that have really attracted you now in these past few years?

Bill Wyatt: |00:04:51| Well, the outdoors I always thought Oregon was was an outdoor kind of place. And it is, but. Utah just has so much to offer. As I said, you know, I live in the upper avenues here in Salt Lake, three blocks from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which is practically wilderness compared to what I'm accustomed to. We just recently bought some property down in southern Utah that we're building on, and there just isn't anything about, you know, the landscape, the area that we don't like. I found people to be very friendly here, easy to interact with and communicate with. And yeah, we've just really, really enjoyed it a lot.

Tom Kelly: |00:05:37| You know, a lot of people come here for the skiing and then they discover the desert. The desert is wonderful, isn't it?

Bill Wyatt: |00:05:42| Yes, it is. It's fabulous. And I can say I'm you know, I'm a dyed in the wool Oregon duck, but I love watching the Utes play as well.

Tom Kelly: |00:05:51| Yeah, it is. That's tough being in the same conference. Let's talk about Salt Lake City as an airport. For those of us who have lived here for many years, we grew really accustomed to our old airport and it was really easy for us because we kind of knew our way around. But if you could first set the stage, where does Salt Lake City stand across the United States in terms of size and stature?

Bill Wyatt: |00:06:14| Well, in terms of total and payments, we're 20th largest in the country today, and that is largely because we're a Delta hub. So 70% of their traffic connects through Salt Lake. But the beauty of that is what it means is that Salt Lake, which without being a connecting hub, would probably have 45 or so nonstop flights. Today, I think we have about 95, and that's what that connecting hub status does for Salt Lake. During the pandemic, obviously not something any of us ever anticipated. Salt Lake was one of the fastest to return service. And today I think we stand as the most recovered airport in the country in terms of airplane seats in the market. And that has a lot to do with why we're here talking. During the pandemic, there was a point at which people just said, you know what, I'm getting out of my basement. I'm going to go somewhere. They weren't going to go to New York City. They weren't going to Disneyland. But they did come to Salt Lake because they could go skiing or they could go to the national parks or up into the desert. And I think we're continuing to see very strong volumes for all of that.

Tom Kelly: |00:07:37| I know that the pandemic is something we really want to put behind us, but let's go back to February of 2020. What were your enplanements like in February of 2020? And then what were they like two months later in April?

Bill Wyatt: |00:07:48| So a big day here in Salt Lake ... I always look at how many people are going to arrive at the front door, because that's where you really have to pay attention. And a big day for us is 30,000 people. And that February, I think we had two or three of those days. President's Day weekend is a huge travel period here. In March, late March, I remember standing on the sky bridge to my office, which was above Terminal A, for 10 minutes and not seeing a single passenger. And we were at that point about five months from opening. So it was obviously concerning. And if you remember back to sort of March, April, May of 20. There wasn't a lot of optimism in the air. There was no talk about a vaccine really at that point. There was a lot of unknown about this disease. I, in my prior life, have traveled extensively in Asia during SARS and MERS and saw what happened there. So we really had to think through what our game plan was going to be because we had to open we'd sold bonds to investors to build this facility where that close we're going to have to start paying on those bonds anyway. So it turned out to be serendipitous. We had an earthquake which did some fairly significant damage to the old airport, so never a doubt about opening. The question was how much of the program would we carry forward with?

Tom Kelly: |00:09:19| We're going to talk a little bit more about the plan. And I know we'll dive back into some of the benefits that pandemic actually brought to your construction. But just to talk a little bit about the airport itself and maybe if you could elaborate on what your specific role is. I know that you oversee the whole thing, but what are some of the areas that are really big focal points for you in managing the Salt Lake City International Airport?

Bill Wyatt: |00:09:43| You know, one of the questions I get all the time is how much time do you spend on the project and how much time on day to day? And the team at Salt Lake has always been regarded as one of the best in the country. And so the airport is really strong in terms of day-to-day operations. In addition, with a hub carrier like Delta, they're heavily invested here. And so the two of us forge a very strong relationship in terms of the day to day operation. And so unless there is a problem, there isn't really much that requires my attention on a daily basis. But this project, which is approaching $5-billion, it's like building a new house. It's not like you turn the plans over to the architect and say, 'give me a call when you're done.' You know, it's just this relentless decision making about things that maybe have changed since the plans were originally developed or problems that weren't anticipated. Other challenges, supply chain issues, so on and so forth. And then also adapting to the growth that was not forecast back in 2012 has been, I would say, our number one challenge. We are growing at a rate that far exceeds what the architects and engineers who designed this place imagined. And so coping with that has been a really big part of the job.

Tom Kelly: |00:11:16| Let's talk about the plan now and if you I know this was before you, but if you could go back in time when this project was conceived, what the airport was, does the old airport was designed to handle and what it was actually handling.

Bill Wyatt: |00:11:31| Yeah. So the old airport was designed to handle about 10 million annual passengers and in its last full year of operation did just a little over 28. And you know, this issue of capacity is kind of a tricky one because it's capacity at what cost? At what expense? And the old airport really couldn't handle much more. It certainly couldn't handle any more aircraft. We were just full unless somebody wanted to fly in at three in the morning. But that's not typically a hot time of the day to travel. When we had the earthquake in April 2020, the age of that facility really began to show itself. And part of that, of course, is you don't put a lot of money into maintenance of an old facility that you're in the process of replacing. But nevertheless, it was old. It was not designed as a hub. I always hold up my hand when I talk about the old airport because that's what it looked like. You know, you had these five fingers or five concourses that were connected. And if there was a single aircraft movement in between any two of those fingers, everything else came to a stop. And so this airport is designed as a 21st century hub airport where no aircraft ever has to wait for another one to get out of its way, which has, by the way, enormous positive environmental benefits, because the old airport caused a lot of jet fuel to be burned unnecessarily because of that design feature.

Tom Kelly: |00:13:14| You were in Portland at the time, but had you been watching what was going on at Salt Lake City with the plans for a new airport?

Bill Wyatt: |00:13:21| You know, I have to say not really. I had flown through Salt Lake, as many people would on many occasions connecting to some other place. So I was roughly familiar with the old airport, but it took three or four days of poking around before I realized that something huge was happening. And I think it's important for people to understand that the plans for the facility that we're sitting in right now were actually devised back in 96, 97, 98. And the idea was we'll get under way right after the Olympics. Well, then 911 happened and that roiled the industry. Okay, how about 2007? Then we had the financial meltdown of 2007 and eight and then the subsequent airline bankruptcies. So this 1990s plan didn't get underway really until 2012 and then groundbreaking in 2014. So it's been in the works for quite a while. But I have to say I wasn't that familiar with it.

Tom Kelly: |00:14:28| One of the elements that I don't even recall is that well in advance of the groundbreaking, one of the tunnels was actually constructed as a part of another project. Can you tell us about that and when did that take place?

Bill Wyatt: |00:14:40| You bet. So, you know, I'm sitting here looking out the windows of the Central Plaza where there is now a central tunnel being constructed. But that tunnel would have taken out Concourse D and E, Well, you know, you couldn't shut the airport down for seven or eight years to build the new one. And so in order to enable this project, the airport went to the FAA, got a grant for $8 million, which is amazing to me because that's a pretty good buy. Built that tunnel and then buried it in anticipation of the ultimate development of the airport that you and I are now sitting in. Without that, we couldn't have done this. It would have been a very different kind of project.

Tom Kelly: |00:15:25| And the plans were sufficient at that time that they knew where that tunnel was going to go.

Bill Wyatt: |00:15:31| Yeah, I think the answer is basically yes, because even though we have a lot of property here to work with, we don't have that much. And the basic design, the idea of these two parallel concourses meant that it was close enough because you could always extend it or do something else. But what it meant was we could begin using the taxiways out here right away because the tunnel was already constructed and all that had to happen was to connect it to the concourses on each end, the concourse and the B concourse. It was an incredible visionary effort on behalf of Salt Lake City at that time.

Tom Kelly: |00:16:15| For those of us here in Utah who use the airport regularly and skiers who are coming in on a regular basis, you probably watched that construction happening in the last few years leading up to the opening in 2020. You were able to run a pretty seamless operation at the old airport while this one was being built, weren't you?

Bill Wyatt: |00:16:34| Yes, we were. And, you know, that is a real team effort because you have the Department of Airports, you have the project management team, which is a group of individuals that work under contract for the airport to manage the construction project. And then you had at that time two joint venture contractors who were building the airport and a tremendous amount of planning went into making certain that the operation of the old airport was not impeded in any significant way. And that just means we're all really joined at the hip. And I put a lot of emphasis on teamwork. And we have a wonderful team. If you were to line them all up here, you couldn't tell one from the other. People work very well together here. It's the only way you can do something that is this complex.

Tom Kelly: |00:17:35| One other area I wanted to touch on is that the decision was made somewhere along the line to go for LEED gold certifications. Tell us tell our listeners what LEED certification is and why it was so important for Salt Lake City to take the no pun intended lead in that project?

Bill Wyatt: |00:17:52| Well, this was a decision that I believe came from the Salt Lake City Council, the mayor ... Then-Mayor Ralph Becker and the Salt Lake City Council. And, you know, given what airports do, it's a pretty bold move. But what it means is leadership in energy and environment design. And there is such a thing as the Green Building Council that certifies whether or not you meet their metrics for qualification under the various standards. And the decision was made to go for gold. There's one higher platinum, very difficult for an entire airport to do. You can do it on a building, but for the entire airport, very challenging. And really, the way that this was accomplished was a tremendous focus on energy efficiency. The little bag tugs that take the bags back and forth from the planes -- they're all electric now. They're not actually allowed to have internal combustion engines in the bag halls or underneath the building at all, natural light harvesting, a tremendous amount of environmental automation that goes with the building we use today, less electricity in this building than we did in the old airport, which I think is a sign of the effort that was undertaken. But I think, you know, this is a day when I look out the window and you can definitely see the inversion. And as a relative outsider, one of the things I note is how universal the commitment is to dealing with that issue. And so that was really on top of mind for everybody associated in the early days of this project. So little things like free flowing dual taxi lanes in all directions means that planes are taxing less on the ground and getting out of here quicker, which means a huge amount of carbon savings. So the day the new airport. It opened, I like to say, was probably the best day for air quality in this valley in a very, very long time.

Tom Kelly: |00:20:06| Let's go back to the pandemic. And there was a point at which the pandemic had a silver lining for you in your construction plan. As we got into the spring of 2020, at what point did you realize that maybe this was going to provide us an opportunity with our timeline and costs?

Bill Wyatt: |00:20:22| You know, I went to back to Washington, D.C. for an airport conference on March 5th. It was evident that something big was happening and it was on everybody's mind. I came back and we sat down with our team and the project management team and Delta and the other carriers and said, okay, you know, the previous plan was to continue operating parts of the old airport while we operated this part of the new airport to maintain maximum gate count. And the real question was, do we need to do that? Can you guys just suck it up and tighten your belt for a couple of years? If we were to tear down all of the old airport at once, it would allow us to conclude the project two years in advance of the original schedule. And to Delta's credit, they said, absolutely, let's do that. And then I call it off ramps and on ramps. So we created a series of off ramps and on ramps -- off ramps so that if the business never really came back the way that it was before, we'd have an airport sized to service this community all by itself or on ramps so that if traffic began to return faster than anticipated, we could roll into the various other elements that we had originally intended and have the full product two years in advance. And as it turns out, we have flipped the switch on all of the on ramps. So we're on time, we're on budget and frankly are hopeful that we'll actually be concluding at the end of the current project -- an additional 16 gate expansion, which we can talk about as you wish.

Tom Kelly: |00:22:19| That's remarkable. For those listening to the podcast, you can go to Ski Utah dot com and we're going to provide some links to some videos and other documents that really show you a good overview of how this timeline has worked. We're with Bill Wyatt, the executive director of the Salt Lake City International Airport. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back on Last Chair.

Tom Kelly: |00:22:39| Welcome back to last year. We're with Bill Wyatt, the executive director of the Salt Lake City International Airport today. And Bill, thanks for the overview of the whole planning process. One other element of the plan I want to touch on is where we go from here. There's still construction. There's still another phase to complete. Looking forward, what is the timeline like now?

Bill Wyatt: |00:22:58| So the milestones that are in front of us, we recently completed one milestone, which is to allow for aircraft to taxi over the top of what we call the central tunnel. That's key to the efficient operation of the airport that was on time. The next big milestone will occur in May when the first four gates on A Concourse East, which is currently under construction, open. And then the following November, all of the A concourse opens. And that'll be a blessed moment, because the other thing that happens is that what we call the Hardstand, which Delta operates, which is you go out to B, you go all the way down to B 30, you go down the ramp, you get on a bus and you're bussed out your aircraft or vice versa. That goes away in a year from now. So we're excited about that. That'll be a big moment. And then the following fall, the central tunnel will open. That's going to make a really fundamental change here to the airport, because that means instead of coming out from the checkpoint and turning left and going halfway down the concourse and down the mid concourse tunnel to the B concourse, you're going to come out to the Central Plaza where we are right now. You're either going to turn right, you're going to turn left, or you're going to go straight ahead. And it will significantly improve the customer experience. And then following the construction of what I'm looking at, at the window right now is the B concourse. I am confident that we will begin construction of a 16 gate expansion, something that was not really anticipated for several years, which will conclude in 2027. And that means in the space of seven years, Salt Lake will have gone from an airport that had 52 jet bridges to one with 94 jet bridges. And that growth is really a mirror reflection of what's been happening in the economy of this value, this valley to the ski industry, the tourism industry, just the tremendous growth that we all can see with our own eyes.

Tom Kelly: |00:25:21| So did you indicate that in a year from now, we'll have jet bridges to every arrival aircraft?

Bill Wyatt: |00:25:26| Yes.

Tom Kelly: |00:25:27| That's really remarkable!

Bill Wyatt: |00:25:28| Yeah, it's going to be wonderful. You know, it's not really much fun to get out there in February, bundle up and, you know, hustle down the ramp and get on. It was the only option that we really had available to us in the event that traffic return more quickly. So I'm glad that we were able to do it, but I'll be really glad when we're able to put it to bed.

Tom Kelly: |00:25:52| Delta Airlines, which is a Ski Utah sponsor, is the largest user of the airport. But how many different carriers do you have in here now?

Bill Wyatt: |00:26:00| We have about nine, I think it is. I'll try and name them all. Just dangerous.

Tom Kelly: |00:26:06| Of course it's always dangerous.

Bill Wyatt: |00:26:08| Delta, who is our hub carrier, you know, United, American, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, Spirit Airlines, a new airline, which we're very pleased about. I think I mentioned Southwest Airlines, German Eurowings subsidiary of Lufthansa, which flies seasonally to Frankfurt. Aeromexico flies here, KLM flies here. And I would expect that we're going to see many more, particularly on the international front. We're making an emphasis in that direction. International is still a little wobbly, I'd say, around the globe. Asia practically not at all. But Salt Lake is a place that many airlines want to come to. So we've got a lot of folks knocking on the door. I'm excited about the future.

Tom Kelly: |00:27:03| Here is a decision on a carrier, an international carrier coming here, one of the carrier, or can the Salt Lake City International Airport influence carriers to start service into certain markets?

Bill Wyatt: |00:27:15| Well, we can influence and we try to do that. We have a full time operation at air service development, as I said, focused primarily on international service. And when that world opens up again, I think we're going to see quite a bit of new. International service. Now, if someone just knocks on the door and says, we're coming to Salt Lake, we really cannot say no to them. The FAA has a whole set of regulations around fair competition, which we rigorously adhere to, but that doesn't prevent us from going out and knocking on doors. If carriers that we think would offer a unique brand and service into Salt Lake.

Tom Kelly: |00:28:06| Are there some international markets that you can maybe tease us on that might be coming in the next year or two?

Bill Wyatt: |00:28:12| Well, I need to be careful here. You know, it's a very competitive world, but there is one carrier that would surprise no one, and that's Icelandair. I could see them here in a couple of years. They have a very unique product offering. If you're flying on them to say, Europe, you can stop in Reykjavik and stay in Iceland for four days without any penalty and then travel on to Norway or Denmark or wherever it is you may be going. And this is a market that they would be very interested in. They're not quite ready, I don't think. But, you know, that's a good example of one.

Tom Kelly: |00:28:48| Let's take a dive into the airport itself from the perspective of a skier arriving here at Salt Lake City. And I have to start out in saying, while I don't travel quite as much as I used to, as I travel around today and having seen this airport, I really am proud on one hand and also pretty pleased that this is my home airport. I get to travel in and out of here whenever I choose to travel. Others make choices, and I think that what people will find here, what skiers and snowboarders will find here, is something that will make them want to come to Salt Lake City. It's an attractive airport to fly into.

Bill Wyatt: |00:29:22| It's you know, the ski industry had a lot to do with various design elements of the airport. And just to give you one example that I really love, the bag belts where the agent puts your bag is a full foot wider than a conventional bag belt, and that is to accommodate oversized bags like skis, like snowboards, like golf clubs. When you are an arriving passenger, you go out into the bag hall to grab your bags and your ski bag is on a vertical carousel. So it's a lot easier to pick off. And I might say for those skiers who've had their four or five days of skiing and then are going home, we've we're making some adjustments here that I think are going to be tremendously well received. One, if you take a shuttle down from Park City, for example, and arrive at level one, which is the ground floor, you can get off there and go directly in and check in and then move through the checkpoint from level one itself. You don't have to go up three stories to do that. The other thing that Delta is going to do this season, I'm very excited for this. It'll really mean a lot for the airport is … they're working with the resorts to allow customers to check their oversized bag at the resort. It'll be delivered sometime during the night to the airport. Go through the the bag check area, and the skier will see their bag when they arrive at their destination. Very exciting prospect because that'll make the check in process so much easier. But if you're an arriving skier here, I think the most amazing thing is you get here at ten in the morning, you go out and if you're renting a car, you're taking a shuttle, you've got a service hired, you're going to ski in that day as opposed to Denver, where you're going to spend the rest of your day traveling up to the resort area. So the proximity of the airport to the ski areas here is just … it's unparalleled. There really isn't anything like it.

Tom Kelly: |00:31:36| There is a proliferation of shuttle services to all the resorts. But for those that do still choose to rent a car, you've also decided with the new airport to keep the car rentals on property so you can walk across and get a rental car and never have to leave the terminal complex.

Bill Wyatt: |00:31:51| Critically important. And I don't say these things to be a chest thumper, but if you go to Dallas, for example, and you want to run a car, you get on a shuttle bus and you drive for 15 or 20 minutes before you get to the center where your car is. Here, as you say, you just walk out, walk across the terminal building, grab your car and you're off. And this was at the time a controversial decision because it is a lot more expensive to have that offered at the airport. But Salt Lake has always been a very, very strong rental car market for the airport. And I think a very sound and wise judgment was made at the time to keep rental cars right at the airport.

Tom Kelly: |00:32:37| So one of the challenges of going to any airport is the security process, but it's a necessary thing. We all understand that. Talk about the innovations that we're deployed here at the New Salt Lake City International relative to security, that all TSA process.

Bill Wyatt: |00:32:53| Well, one of the decisions we had to make early on was the equipment that would be used at the checkpoint, because in most airports, they're still using really older technology. We decided, you know, we're not going to open this multibillion dollar new airport with yesterday's technology. So let's get state of the art technology, one that will be easy to operate for the agents and one that will be fairly seamless for passengers. And so at each row, there are four divesting positions. So you roll up, you grab your device there, you put it up, you divest yourself if you need to. You've got to automatically return. If you need three, you got three and off it goes. It is scanned remotely. So there's nobody looking at you and looking at the picture, looking at you and looking at the picture. And then if it alarms, it goes down a separate aisle and you go down and the agent grabs the bin, holds it up, the bin gets red and up pops the image of whatever it was that caused that bin to be pushed aside. So the throughput here is very high per lane. That's really important because we don't want to have to spend a lot more money building a larger checkpoint. And so we have embraced technology here that will continue to expedite the service. We have Clear in Salt Lake, not every airport does. And of course TSA PreCheck and I always say to people, if you travel at all, get pre-check, get clear, and your checkpoint experience is going to be 5 minutes and you're going to be on your way. And that's advice that I would give to anybody because it really does make a big difference if you travel once every three years, maybe not, but if you're traveling four or five times a year, it's really worth it.

Tom Kelly: |00:35:02| You know, as I'm not as large traveler as I used to be, but I do find Clear, TSA Rre for sure and Clear is really worth the investment. You're two years into this thing right now, it seems to be working.

Bill Wyatt: |00:35:13| It is. And you know, you mentioned the potential benefits of COVID. One of them was that we didn't open with 30,000 people at the front door. This is a brand new facility. Everything is new here. The bag handling system, the checkpoint, all of the technology, most of which you can't see. And I'll be the first to say not all of it worked perfectly on the opening day. It took a while to really tweak it and understand how it worked, and we had a few months to really be able to do that, which turned out to be a very positive thing. But all of the major systems here work the jet bridges, which are very sophisticated, the bag handling system, which is I won't say state of the art, we didn't want to be on the cutting edge or the bleeding edge. We wanted to be close to that. But it's working very well. We've had the chance to really tweak it. All of our concessions are open. There are still a lot of airports in the United States that don't have that. We are just going through another round of concessions for the next phase. I can say being able to read their financial reports every month, they're going gangbusters. The Sky Club here, one of the largest in the Delta system, is terrific. When we get done with the 16 gate expansion, Delta will build another one over on the B concourse. So they'll have 60,000 square feet of Sky Club here. The roadways, the taxiways, the ramp areas are all working incredibly well. So we're really happy with the airport, the bathrooms. You know, this may seem an odd topic of conversation, but at an airport, that's an important one. No one ever has to wait in line. The old airport would have lines out the door routinely. Not the case here. More than potty parity for women's bathrooms, which is critically important. And the design and the operation of those bathrooms has proven to be really terrific. No touch appliances, which turned out to be a great thing, you know, during COVID.

Tom Kelly: |00:37:30| And you made that determination before COVID, correct?

Bill Wyatt: |00:37:33| Way before. Yeah. So we're really pleased. It's doing well. It wasn't. Perfect. In the beginning, nobody really we didn't really expect it to be, but we've taken advantage of the time and the opportunity to really fine tune everything.

Tom Kelly: |00:37:49| Let's talk about the restaurants and the shops. As a frequent traveler, I would never really go to the airport early because there was a restaurant I wanted to visit, but it's a whole different deal here. What a great compliment you have of both local and national brands.

Bill Wyatt: |00:38:05| So that was really, I think, very early on a strong desire to have not just local people, but other travelers walk in here and see brands that you would recognize as Salt Lake City. So you mentioned Rooster's and Marketplace and Café Rio and Wasatch Brewing and squatters, all things that local folks would recognize, along with, of course, some very important national franchises as well. We'll have a new Burger King in the next phase, which I think represents an important segment of the market. But we'll have more local brands as well. And that's really very important. Part of what the airport can contribute to the economy of the region is helping local folks participate in the business opportunities that exist because the airports here.

Tom Kelly: |00:39:03| The one last thing on the airport I want to touch on is the arc that was installed And behind us, behind you I'm looking at it is the canyon. And I remember in one of those grand openings that you did before the September 2020 opening, you know, you stood in front of that and you talked about that. And give us a little introduction to the canyon.

Bill Wyatt: |00:39:23| Well, when the original planning was done for the airport that we're now sitting in, the Department of Airports in the city conducted pretty extensive surveys in the community and essentially said, what do you want? What do you want to look at? And, of course, people … there were some practical things. We want to plug our devices in. We want comfortable places to sit. We want good concessions and the things that you would anticipate. But they also and this is pretty interesting because it was a recognition that this is a hub airport. Most people who land here don't leave the airport. They wanted people to know they were in Salt Lake and they were in Utah. And so you can look out the window. I can see the Wasatch from here. I can see the Oquirrhs. I can see downtown Salt Lake. The colors, the textures, the materials reflect the local geology ... Very, very important, I think. And so that combined with the local touch of having franchises and names that people would recognize here, was really a part of your original design. The artwork really reflects the canyons as they were the slot canyons, an extraordinary piece of art. The falls at the front of the building made of glass, which changes color as the sun moves up and down. During the course of the day, we have saved the world map from the old airport and that will be installed and the plaza on the B concourse. And I'm personally very excited about that because I know the meaning it has for so many local people. And we'll have a really interesting art installation in the central tunnel. We call it the river tunnel. It'll use the same technology here, but blue sounds of rivers, something to kind of distract you while you're making your way over to the B concourse, but distract you in a very positive way.

Tom Kelly: |00:41:37| One last thing before we move into Fresh Tracks. You are the director of a huge airport. It's a huge public works project, but you are also the initial greeter of the millions of skiers and snowboarders who come to Utah each year. What makes your job so satisfying to you?

Bill Wyatt: |00:41:55| Well, the thing I've always loved about airports is that it is a place of connection. It can be a happy connection. It can be a sad one. You know, I see departing missionaries here all the time who are, you know, in a bundle of tears as they're about to take off for two years. Or I see people who haven't seen each other for three or four years and make that connection. And I think it's a really powerful thing. And it seems to me so fitting here in Salt Lake for any variety of reasons. But when I … this is an exciting time of the year because you see a few skiers, but not too many yet, but they're you know, they're going to be. Arriving soon and you can just sense the joy of this opportunity they're having to come to what is not even arguably the best skiing in the world. And how many people really get to do that? And you see them come in excited in groups of anything from 2 to 20, really ready to go at it. It's pretty exceptional.

Tom Kelly: |00:43:07| Well, it is a great gateway for those skiers and snowboarders. And thank you so much for sharing so much with us here. We're going to wrap it up with our segment we call Fresh Tracks. Some hopefully simple little questions for you. And let's take yourself outside of the new SLC. Do you have another favorite airport anywhere in the world that you really maybe have a good memory of or you admire the operations of?

Bill Wyatt: |00:43:30| Well, I'm going to use two here because I would always say Portland. I love Portland. They're in the midst of an enormous project that is just going to be spectacular and it's usually ranked at the top echelon of airports in the country. But internationally, I love the Hong Kong airport. It's phenomenally beautiful, designed by the same architects who designed our airport, HOK, and they're struggling a bit right now because of all that is going on in China and in Hong Kong. But it's one of the best airports in the world, in my opinion.

Tom Kelly: |00:44:06| Cool. How about a favorite Utah ski run for yourself?

Bill Wyatt: |00:44:10| You know, I think one of my favorite runs is Supreme off the Empire Chair at Deer Valley. It's got great terrain. There's some up and down, if that's what you're looking for. There's some roundabout. But most importantly, from the top of that chair, you're really you're you're at the top of the range up there. And you can see for miles and miles and miles. And I just really have never had that kind of experience before. So it's far enough away from Snow Park so that you don't have quite the same crowds. Not that many people are going to make their way over there.

Tom Kelly: |00:44:50| It is a great spot on the mountain. You can see all the way over to the Cottonwoods. Yeah, Beautiful spot. How about the biggest day ever at the old airport? The biggest day at the new airport?

Bill Wyatt: |00:45:03| I think the correct answer is we don't really know what the oldest or the biggest day at the old airport was because they didn't count during the Olympics. And so that's a little tough to say. But the biggest recorded day at the old airport was about 32,000. The biggest day that we've had here so far is around 31,000. We have Presidents' Day weekend coming up, which coincides with the NBA All Star Game. And the TSA forecast is that we could see close to 40,000. So we're all going to be on our tippy toes when that rolls around.

Tom Kelly: |00:45:44| Do you have a fun story? Hopefully one that had a happy ending of something that took place at the airport where maybe your team has been able to really lend a hand?

Bill Wyatt: |00:45:55| I do. It's my favorite story. When the United States pulled out of Afghanistan, the governor of Utah opened the doors to refugees, which is of course a very Utah thing to do. And a young woman with her husband steps off a plane and immediately goes into labor and gives birth here at the airport. And there are many lovely things about this, but our firefighters were right there to help attend. Ihat baby who came here as a refugee is now an American citizen. And I just think it's one of the sweetest things possible. And one more reason why I like this business so much.

Tom Kelly: |00:46:42| Yeah, that's a very good Utah story, too, isn't it? You've lived in Utah now for five years. Five years now. What has really stood out? I know we talked about this earlier, but are there any things that have really stood out for you about Utah on the people?

Bill Wyatt: |00:46:57| Yeah, I just think I'm always impressed by wherever I am, I can be down in southern Utah, I can be up north, I can be east of here. People are just generally and genuinely very nice. They they reach out, they're pleasant. You know, a friend of mine said to me, he said, Well, you know, when the pioneers first arrived in this valley, it wasn't entirely clear for about 20 years they were going to make it and you're going to make it if you put your arms around other people and and help pull the wagon, so to speak. And I definitely have that feel here. It's very special.

Tom Kelly: |00:47:38| Yeah, it. Really is. I unfortunately am not going to offer you a tasting today, but do you have a have a favorite High West brand?

Bill Wyatt: |00:47:46| I do. It's the double Rye, which I use to make a very nice Manhattan.

Tom Kelly: |00:47:56| Beautiful. It's one of their signature brands. And then lastly, when you think of this amazing airport that you manage, what's one word? Just one word to describe it?

Bill Wyatt: |00:48:08| Oh, boy. That's a really ...

Tom Kelly: |00:48:12| These are always tough.

Bill Wyatt: |00:48:13| I think that, you know, one word that describes this airport to me is Utah. This airport was built to provide this experience for Utah, and it's going to do that for the next century.

Tom Kelly: |00:48:33| Listeners, I encourage you, if you have not been to the new SLC, get a ticket on Delta. Get out here this winter. Bill Wyatt, thanks so much for joining us on Last Chair.

Bill Wyatt: |00:48:41| Thanks so much. Enjoyed it.