Salt Lake flight added by Delta

Delta Airlines will add a round-trip flight between Spokane and Salt Lake City starting Dec. 1, the company announced Thursday.

A second round-trip flight between the cities will be added sometime in early 2005, company spokeswoman Benet Wilson said.

In January 2004 Delta stopped flying its own jets between the cities and instead contracted with Skywest Airlines to provide four roundtrips between Salt Lake and Spokane using smaller regional aircraft.

Since then, however, Delta has seen strong interest in service between Spokane and Salt Lake.

“Delta has found it still needs to add about 150 seats (on flights) from Spokane to Salt Lake a day,” said Spokane International Airport spokesman Todd Woodard.

The added flights will replace regional jet service with larger Boeing 737 airliners, Woodard said. The 737 can hold about 130 passengers, versus 50 seats on the regional aircraft.

Skywest Airlines will offer two round trips each day using smaller aircraft as well.

Wilson said Delta sees most Spokane-Salt Lake passengers using Salt Lake as a connection to other Delta flights. “Some percentage of those passengers, of course, are going to Salt Lake and getting off there, as well,” she said.

Salt Lake ranks as the third most-popular airport destination for Spokane air travelers, according to aviation industry data. The top two are Seattle and Portland.