Salt Lake airport part of TSA program allowing gateside hellos and goodbyes for non-travelers

PROMO Transportation - Airplane Airport Terminal - iStock - Dzmitrock87

Salt Lake City International Airport is one of 14 airports that will allow approved visitors to send off or greet travelers at airport gates rather than waiting outside security checkpoints.

Gateside passes are available to those approved for by the Transportation Security Administration for TSA PreCheck, according to a TSA webpage about the program.

The passes are free and require an application one to three days before the visit using a known traveler number, according to the website, and visitors can enter the airport through TSA PreCheck lanes. Children can also be included on the pass.

Map of the state of Utah, showing portions of surrounding states. — © iStock - klenger

“As an exclusive benefit for our most trusted travelers, this new program makes it easier to return to the gate for welcomes and send-offs, meet friends during a layover, and enjoy dining and shopping along the way, bringing back the moments that once defined air travel,” the website states.

Accommodations for non-travelers accompanying a child or elderly passenger or a passenger with accessibility needs to airport gates currently exist through individual airlines, according to the airport.

Salt Lake City’s airport is known for large, emotional gatherings as family and friends greet missionaries from the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when they return home after up to two years of service. The airport’s remodel even includes a greeting room just outside the security exit intended to move large greeting parties out of the walkway, with mixed success.

The Salt Lake airport is the 24th busiest in the U.S. and the 98th busiest in the world, according to its website, with more than 330 departures daily with 100 nonstop travel destinations.

The 14 airports participating in the gateside program are: