When the last government shutdown happened at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019, the Salt Lake City Airport was at its old location and less prepared to help out the federal workers who still had to show up for their shifts without a paycheck.

That’s a situation that airport administrators said they promised to handle better. Thursday morning, after an appropriations approval from the Salt Lake City Council, one step of that goal was materialized with a pantry dedicated to federal staff, including agents in the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection lines.

“Not only Salt Lakers and Utahns rely on (the workers), but people from all over the globe, because Salt Lake International Airport is more connected around the world than it’s ever been in the past,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said. “We need these federal employees to be well, to feel supported, to know that we’re grateful for them, and to show up to work.”

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The U.S. Congress hasn’t agreed on a funding plan for the federal government, pausing some government operations and temporarily leaving federal workers without salaries. 

The airport, which Salt Lake City owns, filled a hallway of its offices with all kinds of household items, including dried and canned food, diapers, hygiene products and pet food to help relieve that pressure. Soon, the offerings will also include gift cards for gas and other needs, Bill Wyatt, director of the Salt Lake City Department of Airports, said.

The public can also get involved, dropping off non-perishable food at a donation facility the airport is setting up at the airport’s gas station.

“There was a high level of utilization last time, and I would just say, on a personal level, a high level of gratitude,” Wyatt said.

Administrators are using airport funds to cover the cost of the pantry. While officials have spent about $6,000 in the initial effort, they asked for a $100,000 appropriation from the Salt Lake City Council.

“We don’t have yet any gift cards or gas cards. We will be including that. But with those kinds of numbers, it will go pretty fast,” Wyatt said. “If we need to, we’ll go back. We have the support of our airlines, who ultimately are paying a good part of the bill here. But if you park at the airport, if you rent a car at the airport, if you buy gas at the station out there, while you’re making your donation, you’re helping us raise the resources to do this.”

The pantry may help about 450 TSA workers in the Salt Lake City International Airport, and about 30 from Customs and Border Protection, Wyatt said. Air traffic controllers aren’t able to accept gifts for conflict of interest reasons.

Currently, the airport is still running smoothly, but officials worry frustrations will grow deeper among federal workers the longer the shutdown holds.

However, other airports across the country have experienced disruptions during the shutdown, a factor that could also affect Salt Lake travelers, Wyatt said.

“It’s a problem for us, because the airspace that we all share as passengers is a national airspace, and that’s how it’s managed,” he said. “So it’s one thing to say we’re not experiencing shortages of workforce here at the moment, but it doesn’t really make any difference if the places that you’re going to are struggling.”

Mendenhall pleaded with passengers to “bring an extra dose of patience” while visiting the airport.

“Give some grace to these federal employees, share your gratitude with them. They’re showing up for the well being of every single one of us, and they’re not getting paid at this point,” she said.