This just in on KSL.com:

"The new terminal is also structured to support the thousands of people who come to pick up visiting relatives or returning missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with a designated area for passenger greetings and farewells."

I don't recall any special areas for the Catholic Church at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome. This is clearly media bias on the part of KSL.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=30756140&nid=148&title=slc-international-airport-construction-to-begin-on-18b-project&s_cid=queue-9



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2014 11:31PM by tamboruco.

As long as it's not taxpayer money being spent, I won't complain too loudly.

Also, the crowds of people in the terminal waiting to greet their missionary or whatever is enormously frustrating. Especially if they bring their rug-rats to the airport. I can sympathize with the sentiment of the families, but they get in the way of people that just want to grab their luggage and get on the parking shuttle.

I am a little surprised, though. The airport got overhauled in 2002 for the Olympics, not sure why they think it needs a complete teardown.

I worked on parts of it before the olympics. Many of the existing drawings we were given were titled 'Temporary Structure' and were from the early 60's. They were never planned or built to stay in use this long, and a lot of work went into fixing a lot of water problems and the like.

I am really glad they are planning to start over right instead of just cobbling more pieces onto it...

Interesting. I hadn't heard that.

I guess I just have a low standard. Flying into Chicago or Minneapolis or La Guardia is almost never as efficient or clean as flying into SLC (Chicago, by far, takes the cake for terrible airports). I hope the improvements work out as well as they expect them to.

Small town. Small town airports. Big cities, big city airports.

Very poorly designed for a Hub airport. It was built as a regional airport for point-to-point travel. Hub airports tend to follow the pattern of Atlanta. It's way out of date.

That is a capitalist (Mormon) view of the problem. Also if Federal grant money is being used then that means debt from atheists, lesser religions, and gays are being used to accommodate the central airport for a small, mainstreamed cult based in Utah.

Separation of Church and State is not purely a financial concern. The State of Utah is by far the biggest theocracy of any state in the Union. Perhaps the most theocratic place in the Western Hemisphere. Where else is religion more influencing and controlling of State affairs and non-adherants?

Utahns? I love Utah geography too, but where else?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2014 03:14PM by gentlestrength.

I like the current airport -- it's one of my favorites. But I understand the goals of accommodating growth and wanting to save on energy costs. If they can funnel off the people who are greeting arriving passengers that may be a good thing.

No big. The airport is addressing a real need. Let the mormons meet in their own special place... and leave the rest of us alone.

+1

I agree, they should have an area to greet their missionaries, and let the rest of us alone to get our bags so we can leave the airport. If they have a designated drop off area, it also helps the rest of us at ticketing so we can check in and get to security without having to fight the crowd. I've never been through SLC's airport, but as with any airport, I'm more concerned with getting checked in and through security on time, or getting my bag and getting out of the airport.

Or a terminal only for auto companies so they dont have to listen to customer complaints

The international terminal? I guess missionaries departing for and returning from low-status domestic missions don't bring out the big crowds. I mean, they already suffered the big letdown at the call opening party. "I'm not schlepping all the way out to the airport with balloons and signs to greet someone returning from Kansas."