Salt Lake International Airport

Flood of Memories

I have a flood of memories of old SLC and I will miss it when it gets torn down. My earliest recollection of the airport was in the early 1970s. The airport was small with only one terminal and one ground level concourse. My father worked for United Airlines and he took us everywhere because flying was free. Security was very lax back then and anyone could go to the gate to say goodbye to loved ones or welcome them home. There were no jet bridges connected to the gate so you walked out to the tarmac and climbed up the stairs on the back of a truck to board the aircraft. No protection from the elements. The airlines back then were Western, United, American, TWA, PanAm, Frontier, and Hughes AirWest. The parking was only one level and uncovered. Delta bought Western and some of the airlines I mentioned went away. I will be sad to see it when the F Gates closes because the lower level is what I remembered as the old terminal gates and the gates had seats with TV connected where you had to feed it with quarters in order to watch. Good times!

– Dave K.