Striving for Excellence | Cleanliness at SLC
“The objective of cleaning is not just to clean, but to feel happiness living within that environment,” according to Marie Kondo, professional organizer. At Salt Lake City International (SLC), cleanliness is not only a key component in traveler satisfaction but necessary for traveler safety.
When juggling bags and boarding passes, the last thing travelers want to encounter is a dirty restroom or sticky floors. Cleanliness might not be the biggest selling point when it comes to air travel, but it definitely makes a big difference. From spotless restrooms to gleaming terminals, the state of an airport’s hygiene can significantly impact passenger comfort, safety and overall perception.
Simply put, a clean airport just feels better—it’s more welcoming, more comfortable and it can set the tone for the whole trip. The SLC team recognizes this and takes a lot of pride in keeping SLC clean.
Great Work Ethic and Low Turnover
For years, SLC has contracted with Flagship Aviation Services—a company that provides janitorial services to the aviation industry. Celeste Bulter, aviation services manager, oversees the airport’s relationship with Flagship.
“Flagship has a great work ethic,” said Butler. “They are consistently 100% staffed with only an 8% turnover rate. Some of the janitorial staff have worked at the airport since 1988.”
A compliance team from SLC regularly inspects the terminal to ensure that Flagship is following through on the janitorial work it has committed to provide the airport. These checks and balances play an important role in ensuring that the airport is cleaned to the highest standards.
In 2024, Flagship at SLC was one of three airports in the U.S. to receive the President’s Award, which recognizes quality, safety and customer service.
Booms and Scissor Lifts
Smudge-less windows, scuff-free floors and glistening gate areas are all components of a clean airport. SLC also has a number of large-scale art installations that need to be cleaned. How is The Falls, Artist Gordon Huether’s 65-foot-tall dichroic glass sculpture, stay dust free? And how is The Canyon, by Huether, with its beautiful fabric fins, maintained?
The answer lies with a specialty art cleaning team led by Site Manager Thomas Redford. Redford and his team use electric booms and scissor lifts to reach the art. They do so during graveyard shifts, when passenger traffic is at its lowest, to ensure that they have the necessary space to place the lifts and clean the art.
The tools used to clean the art are fairly standard—vacuums, dusters, cloths and, of course, elbow grease. The difference is that the team spends more time detailing the installations. “Our goal is not only to clean the art but also do our best to make it shine,” remarked Redford.
And shine it does. Redford’s favorite art piece to clean is The Falls: “When the sun reflects through the clean glass, it really brightens up the airport,” he said. “This is one of the first pieces of art people see when entering this amazing airport.”
When cleaning The Canyon in the Concourse A plaza, for example, it takes the team several weeks to complete. Once it’s cleaned, the crew moves on to other art pieces in the airport. But art isn’t the only thing this team is responsible for, they also clean Ally the Allosaurus in Concourse B plaza.
“When I first started this job over two years ago, I never thought that I would be cleaning a dinosaur,” said Redford. “It’s cool to be in charge of cleaning Ally.” Who knew ancient allosauruses needed spa days!
We Love Your Bathrooms!
While SLC has received a number of accolades, the most consistent compliment is about its bathrooms. Spacious stalls with plenty of hooks to hang luggage play a role in passenger satisfaction. But one detail puts SLC’s bathrooms over the top—a signature scent.
Since 2020, SLC has installed aroma sensors in its bathrooms, which infuse the air with a signature scent created just for the SLC airport. Prior to choosing the scent, Butler surveyed airport staff on what scent they liked best. Two scents rose to the top—80% of staff liked “mountain air” and 20% preferred “thyme and white tea.” The airport could have gone with majority rules and simply chosen “mountain air,” but instead requested a special blend of the top two contenders. Thus, “mountain thyme” was created for SLC, a custom 80/20 blend of the two scents.
With Flagship’s consistent commitment to excellence and the airport’s attention to detail, SLC offers some of the cleanest and most pleasant airport bathrooms. So it’s no surprise that bathroom selfies have skyrocketed in the airport facilities.
A Vision for Excellence
SLC’s vision is to achieve excellence and unprecedented customer service and to make the airport among the most convenient and efficient air transportation centers in the world. Cleanliness plays a critical role in achieving this vision and a clean airport can make all the difference.