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SALT LAKE CITY — T.J. Bates says he enjoys most of his time at Delta Air Lines' pilot training office, calling it a "top-notch" facility with all the bells and whistles inside; however, getting there can be burdensome, at times.
"The only issue with West Coast pilots, basically, is traveling out to Atlanta to do the training," says Bates, a Utah-based pilot who has been an A320 captain for the airline giant for six years.
Bates is among about 1,000 Delta pilots based in the Salt Lake City area and 4,000 west of the Mississippi River, according to Delta. These West Coast aviators account for about ¼ of the company's pilots.
He and other pilots on the West Coast often have to take an extra day off to fly out a day earlier than others who work for the company to go through a two-day training program and remain certified. Then, they fly back to the West Coast to continue their job, flying passengers all over North America.
"It just takes such a long time," he said. "With it, (there's) the time change and just the sheer flight time, especially for the Seattle and (Los Angeles)-based pilots."
That's why he's thrilled that Delta Air Lines is expanding its operation in his home state, building a new 47,000-square-foot pilot training facility just west of Salt Lake City International Airport. The building, set to open in 2025, will shorten the time and distance West Coast-based pilots will have getting their regular mandatory training.
It'll likely allow for more available pilots, and allow the company to expand the number of new pilots it can train, as it seeks to keep up with travel demand, Bates says. Salt Lake City and Utah officials joined Delta executives and other employees in a ceremony Thursday to break ground on the project.
The facility will hold four full-flight simulators, which are the main devices used to train pilots, said Brad Sheehan, Delta's vice president of flight training and standards. He said Delta selected this location because it can expand the facility to include as many as 10 simulators in the future. It's also already a major hub city for the airline.
"This is a great investment in our growth and operational infrastructure — the biggest investment Delta has made in over decades," Sheehan said, following the ceremony. "It really complements our existing pilot training footprint geographically."
The Salt Lake City facility will pale in comparison to 34 full-flight simulators and other training devices at the main Atlanta center, but the project is a big win for West Coast-based pilots like Bates who won't have to travel very far to complete the training once the building opens.
It also helps the airline as it plans to add more than 150 new aircraft by the end of the decade.
"We're over 900 aircraft today, growing to over 1,000 aircraft, so this facility really allows us both to invest in our current infrastructure, but really prepare us for the growth we know we're going to see over the next five to 10 years," Sheehan said.
It's also Delta's latest installment in making Salt Lake City the airline's second home away from its primary headquarters in Atlanta. It employs about 5,400 people in Salt Lake City, and Thursday's ceremony comes two days before the downtown arena that is home to the Utah Jazz will officially be renamed the Delta Center, again, something that was announced in January.
The airline also announced in January that it finalized a lease with Salt Lake City International Airport through at least 2044, which includes 66 gates open by 2027, the end of the airport's current expansion project. There's an option to extend the new agreement for up to another decade beyond that.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall celebrated these updates Thursday, saying Delta's investments in Utah are helping grow the city and the Wasatch Front.
"All I can say is, 'Wow.' We are so fortunate to have a partner like Delta Air Lines," she said. "It's an exciting part of where we're going as a city. ... Delta Air Lines connects us to a global network so that we can share what so many of us already know, which is that Salt Lake City — and the surrounding region — is one of the best places in the world to visit and certainly an even better place to call home."
Contributing: Tamara Vaifanua
