The number of passengers using Salt Lake City International Airport fell sharply in the first quarter as the recession continued to rage and airlines cut domestic flights.
The number of travelers flying into and from Salt Lake City's airport fell 12 percent, to 4.78 million, in the January-through-March period from 5.43 million a year earlier, according to airport counts.
Commercial aircraft landings and departures were down 12.5 percent, to 68,550 from 78,298 last year.
“It's the same pattern that we've been experiencing probably since late fall of last year. It's a combination of reduced flights and this year the effect of the economy on people flying,” said spokeswoman Barbara Gann.
Delta Air Lines and SkyWest Airlines, which flies for Delta as Delta Connect, lost the most passengers -- not surprising because they controlled 68 percent of the market for passengers in the first quarter.
Delta's passenger count was down 16 percent, to 899,777. SkyWest numbers were off 10 percent, to 718,198.
Those numbers should improve in the second quarter, when Delta beefs up its flight schedule at Salt Lake City International after a year of downsizing.
Delta will launch routes to nine new cities in June, including Tokyo. The airline also will resume flying to three destinations and add flights to nine more locations.
