b'GROUND SUPPORTSLC29One of the biggest challenges was time, Stetson says. You know how aviation is: We needed gates, and we needed them immediately.When the pandemic hit, SLCs airlines agreed that shutting down wasnt an option. The project team had to come up with something else, and that something else was hardstand parking.It seemed reasonable that the bestor maybe we call it the least-worstoption was to demo the existing facilities and then build all the new facilities and see where everything would shake out, Stetson remembers.It was a bit of a gamble, though, since no one knew what the future held post-pandemic. While the SLC team didnt have a Magic 8 ball, it felt sure that passengers would start streaming through the door again at some point. The big questionwas when. Staffing and EquipmentIn fall 2020 (during Phase I of construction), Delta Connection flights at 11 gates on Concourse A were switched to remote hardstands. Passengers departing on regional jets had to venture halfway down the west side of concourse A, connect to Concourse B via a tunnel, then backtrack to the gate counters for the hardstands.Even under ideal circumstances,optimal time to close the old gates and building an airport is a long and complexcontinue construction on the new terminal.Wyatt acknowledges that the circuitous process that requires project teams toroute wasnt as easy as passengers We figured we would save ourselveswould have liked, but he considers the juggle the needs of airlines, passengers,and everybody else a tremendous amount concessionaires and other stakeholders.temporary measure a success from an of stress and headache by avoiding runningoperations perspective. And passenger But 2020 ushered in an unforeseenoperations at the older airport and the new wrinkle that shook up the entire industry:flow improved dramatically in 2024, when airport simultaneously, Wyatt recalls.the 1,000-foot River Tunnel that connects the COVID-19 pandemic. As air traffic slowed dramatically, the team atDelta Air Lines, which operates a majorconcourses A and B opened. SLC faced tough decisions about itshub at SLC, agreed.Airports of our size are small cities, construction timeline.So did the airportsand we have a lot of stakeholders here, We went fromproject managementWyatt remarks. Youve got the airport, having 30,000consultant, Makingthe concessionaires, the rental car people a day at ourProjects Work. Briancompanies, the ground transportation front door to 1,500,Stetson, a programand the airlines. You really have to recalls Executivemanager with thepay attention to communication and Director Bill Wyatt.firm, notes thatcoordination.expanding SLC wasBRIAN STETSON Communication was a key tenet of the By May 2020,a no-brainer because there was littleBILL WYATT hardstand plan, even outside of the SLC skiing, national parks and outdoor tourismnetwork. As the team put together an optimism about when air traffic wouldare driving more and more visitors to the return to normal, and Wyatt and his projectoperations sequence, it knew that buses area. Scheduling construction, however,would be needed to shuttle passengers to team considered options for transitioningwas the more difficult part.to the new terminal. It seemed like anand from the remote hardstands. Buying a AirportImprovement.comMarch | April 2026'