Salt Lake sailing on wave of good economic tidings

In a city that's had its share of bad economic news, Salt Lake City in the past month has hit the business jackpot.

The biggest kitty came Wednesday as Delta Air Lines released details of its restructuring plan to avoid bankruptcy — a plan that includes expanding service in its Salt Lake City hub by 58 flights daily. Still, the good Delta news was somewhat tempered by ongoing concerns about the airline's financial status and whether the restructuring plan will save the company.

But those worries didn't stop Salt Lake City leaders from being generally giddy Wednesday as they considered their recent slate of good economic news.

First, leaders of the semiannual Outdoor Retailer convention, which pumps $32 million into the local economy, announced last month they were staying in Salt Lake City for five more years after threatening to leave for Las Vegas.

A few weeks later, Wal-Mart opened it first SuperCenter in Utah's capital, bringing 530 new jobs. Then, just a couple days after that, Nordstrom announced it wouldn't be leaving the city — as it had promised for years — after all and instead would be moving to new downtown digs as part of the LDS Church's multimillion-dollar redevelopment effort. Nordstrom's announcement kept 280 jobs in Salt Lake City.

Of course, Wednesday brought the kicker as Delta announced it would not be abandoning its Salt Lake City hub as some industry analysts had suggested it should.

"It's feeling like things are turning a bit, and there's a lot of optimism," City Council chairwoman Jill Remington Love said.

Delta's decision means its roughly 4,000 jobs will stay in Utah, and the 58 new flights likely mean more jobs will be coming to the Salt Lake City International Airport.

"This is Delta saying, 'Yes we are going to go with you,' " said Meg Holbrook, chairwoman of the Utah Air Travel Commission. "And, along with Nordstrom staying, this is very good economic news for the state of Utah."

Delta's commitment to Salt Lake City is a good recruitment tool for downtown interests, Downtown Alliance executive director Bob Farrington said.

"Everybody is a beneficiary of their presence," he said. "For downtown being so close to a major hub within 10 minutes is kind of unheard of, so that convenience is a big selling point."