Mountain View: Delta Adds Pittsburgh-Salt Lake City Route

Utah’s state capital is back on Pittsburgh’s route map.

On Friday, Delta Air Lines announced that it will resume nonstop service between Pittsburgh International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) effective Nov. 23, just in time for the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel period for skiers eager to hit the slopes this winter.

Delta will operate the route daily on a year-round basis. The outbound flight departs PIT at 5:40 p.m. and arrives at SLC at 8:12 p.m. local time. The return flight departs SLC at 11 a.m. and arrives at PIT at 4:39 p.m. local time.

Flights will go on sale Saturday, June 22 and will be available for purchase at Delta.com.

SLC until today was the largest unserved market from Pittsburgh. Delta initially began the PIT-SLC route in 2018 until pausing the route in early 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Restoring the route was a top priority for PIT, which worked with Delta on a return date since the pandemic’s beginning.

“We’re excited Delta is resuming its nonstop service to Salt Lake City, a western market very popular with our business and leisure travelers,” said Bryan Dietz, Senior Vice President of Air Service & Commercial Development at PIT. “This is another huge win for PIT’s growing service portfolio to the Western United States market and an indicator of the region’s strong post-pandemic recovery.”

The carrier will utilize 160-seat Boeing 737-800s which offer over 21 percent more seats than the Airbus A319s that previously operated the route. In addition to offering free WiFi and in-flight entertainment, Delta is currently upgrading its 737-800 fleet nose-to-tail with its latest onboard product aimed to provide an enhanced premium travel experience.

A Delta 737-800 lands at PIT on Nov. 25, 2023. Delta will utilize its 737-800 aircraft on the PIT-SLC route while the fleet receives cabin upgrades aimed at offering a more premium travel experience. (Photo by Evan Dougherty)

The estimated annual economic impact of the PIT-SLC route is $16 million annually which will support 155 direct and indirect jobs.

Salt Lake City is one of Delta’s largest hubs with nearly 90 destinations. Pittsburghers will have access to seamless, one-stop itineraries to many destinations within the Mountain West, West Coast, Mexico, Western Canada, Hawaii and Alaska.

Additionally, Salt Lake City is home to a growing economy fueled by the technology and medical industries of which it shares connections with Western Pennsylvania. It also lies at the epicenter of world-class outdoor activities, such as skiing, and is close to several U.S. national parks, forests and recreational areas.

Delta’s resumption of Salt Lake City adds to PIT’s growing network of flights to the West Coast, a region that continues to see rising demand from Pittsburgh. In addition to Salt Lake City, PIT recently began flights to San Diego on Breeze Airways in May and Southwest Airlines earlier this month.

Fellow network carrier United Airlines also flies twice daily nonstop service to San Francisco and Alaska Airlines recently increased its nonstop Seattle service to twice daily for the summer. Furthermore, Breeze and Spirit Airlines each serve the Los Angeles market nonstop from PIT with Spirit recently increasing capacity on its flights with larger aircraft.

Other western destinations served nonstop from PIT include Denver on Frontier Airlines, Southwest and United (which recently increased flights to three times a day); Las Vegas on Southwest and Spirit; and Phoenix on American Airlines and Southwest.