Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (IATA: ATL, ICAO: KATL, FAA LID: ATL), known locally as Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport, and Hartsfield-Jackson, is located seven miles (11 km) south of the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic as well as landings and take-offs. Additionally, Delta Air Lines operates the world’s largest airline hub from the airport.

AirTran Airways also operates its largest hub at the airport. The airport is the primary hub of Delta Air Lines, AirTran Airways, and Delta Connection partner Atlantic Southeast Airlines. The airport has 180 gates. Delta Air Lines flew 56% of passengers from the airport in 2007, AirTran flew 19%, and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew 12%.

The Atlanta airport has more nonstop flights and destinations than any airline hub in the world. It serves 261 nonstop destinations, including 83 international destinations in 54 countries. Hartsfield-Jackson is one of only a few airports that can perform triple simultaneous landings.

The airport is located partly within the city of College Park, Georgia, which is south of the city limits of Atlanta, but is located mostly in unincorporated areas in Fulton and Clayton counties; the city limits of College Park, East Point, and Hapeville extend to the airport grounds.

Air traffic controllers for tower and ground control operations referring to the letter “D” use the word “Dixie” instead of “Delta” to avoid confusion with Delta Air Lines aircraft. The airport employs approximately 55,300 airline, ground transportation, concessionaire, security, federal government, City of Atlanta and Airport tenant employees and is considered the largest employment center in the State of Georgia. With a payroll of $2.4 billion, the airport has a direct and indirect economic impact of $3.2 billion on the local and regional economy and a total annual, regional economic impact of more than $19.8 billion.

History

Hartsfield-Jackson had its beginnings with a five-year, rent free lease on 287 acres (116 ha) that had been the home of an abandoned auto racetrack. The lease was signed on April 16, 1925, by Mayor Walter Sims, who committed the city to develop it into an airfield. As part of the agreement, the property was renamed Candler Field after its former owner, Coca-Cola tycoon and former Atlanta mayor Asa Candler. The first flight into Candler Field was on September 15, 1926, a Florida Airways mail plane flying from Jacksonville. In May 1928, Pitcairn Aviation began service to Atlanta, followed in June 1930 by Delta Air Service. Later these two airlines, known as Eastern Air Lines and Delta Air Lines, respectively, would both use Atlanta as their chief hubs.

Candler Field’s first control tower was opened March 1939 and in October 1940 the U.S. government declared it an air base. During World War II, the airport doubled in size and set a record of 1,700 takeoffs and landings in a single day, making it the nation’s busiest airport in terms of flight operation.

In 1946 Candler Field was renamed Atlanta Municipal Airport. In 1948, more than one million passengers passed through a war surplus hangar that served as a terminal building. On June 1, 1956, an Eastern Airlines flight to Montreal, Canada was the first international flight out of Atlanta. In 1957, Atlanta had its first jet flight: a Sud Aviation Caravelle from Washington D.C. That same year, work on a new terminal began to help alleviate congestion. Atlanta was the busiest airport in the country with more than two million passengers passing through that year and, between noon and 2 p.m. each day, it became the busiest airport in the world.

On May 3, 1961, the new $21 million terminal opened, the largest in the country, being able to accommodate over six million travelers a year. The new airport was stretched past its capacity the very first year when nine and half million people passed though. In 1967, the city of Atlanta and the airlines began to work on a master plan for future development of Atlanta Municipal Airport.

Construction was begun on the present midfield terminal in January 1977 under the administration of Mayor Maynard Jackson. It was the largest construction project in the South, costing $500 million. Named for former Atlanta mayor William Berry Hartsfield, who did much to promote air travel, William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport opened on September 21, 1980, on-time and under budget[citation needed]. It was designed to accommodate up to 55 million passengers per year and covered 2.5 million square feet (230,000 m²). In December 1984 a 9000-foot (3 km) fourth parallel runway was completed, and another runway was extended to 11,889 feet (3.6 km) the following year.

In May 2001, construction of a fifth runway (10-28) began. It was completed and opened in May 2006. It was added to help ease some of the traffic problems caused by landing small- and mid-size aircraft on the longer runways which are also used by larger planes such as the Boeing 777, which generally require longer takeoff distances than the smaller planes.

In 2003, Atlanta’s city council voted on October 20 to change the name from Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport to the current Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in honor of former mayor Maynard Jackson, the first African-American mayor of Atlanta, who had died on June 23, 2003. The council had initially planned on renaming the airport solely for Mayor Jackson, but public outcry, especially by Mayor Hartsfield’s descendants, prompted the compromise.

Layout

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s third largest airport at 5.8 million square feet (~0.54 km²), behind Hong Kong International Airport and Suvarnabhumi Airport. It serves as the chief hub to Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways and mostly handles air traffic to other parts of the United States and Canada. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has international service to North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

• Hartsfield-Jackson has two terminals where passengers check in and claim bags, the North Terminal and the South Terminal. The two terminals are parts of a larger building. The portions of the building in between the two terminals include the Atrium (which has a large, open seating area, concessionaires and a bank), the main security checkpoint, car rental agencies and a MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) train station.
• Six airside concourses exist for passenger boarding, and each of them are parallel to each other. The first concourse is directly connected to the Terminal, and is known as Concourse T (for Terminal). The remaining five concourses are arranged successively in distance from the terminal as Concourses A, B, C, D, and E. Concourse E, which was opened in 1996 in time for the summer Olympic Games, is the international terminal. The concourses are connected by an underground Transportation Mall, which runs under the center of each concourse.

The Automated People Mover

In addition to the pedestrian walkway, the Transportation Mall also features an automated people mover. The people mover has stations at each of the six concourses. There is also a station for the Baggage Claim area, which is located directly underneath the Main Terminal. It is the world’s busiest automated people mover, with over 64 million riders in 2002.

MARTA Station

Hartsfield-Jackson also has its own train station on the city’s rapid transit system, MARTA. The above-ground station is inside in the main building, between the north and south terminals on the west end. The Airport train station is currently the southernmost station in the MARTA system.

Expansion

In 1999, Hartsfield-Jackson’s leadership established the Development Program: “Focus On the Future” involving multiple construction projects with the intention of preparing the airport to handle a projected demand of 121 million passengers in 2015. The program was originally budgeted at $5.4 billion over a ten-year period, but due to project delays and increased construction costs, the total is now projected at over $9 billion. The first of the projects undertaken, the airport’s fifth runway, opened on May 27, 2006. It bridges Interstate 285 (the Perimeter on the south side of the airport. The massive project, which involved putting fill dirt eleven stories high in some places, destroyed some surrounding neighborhoods, and families are able to visit two cemeteries on the property only occasionally. At the cost of $1.28 billion, this 9,000-foot (2,700 m) runway is the first runway added to the Atlanta airport since 1984. The fifth runway is expected to increase the capacity for landings and take-offs by 40%, from an average of 184 flights per hour to 237 flights per hour.

In July 2003, current Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin announced a new terminal to be named the Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. International Terminal. The new international terminal would be built on the east side of the airport near International Concourse E. It would add ten new gates able to hold wide-body jets, plus check-in desks and a baggage claim area for international carriers. The new terminal will be connected to Terminal E by the people mover system and will also have new ground transportation access from I-75 It was slated to open in 2006, however time and cost overruns led general manager Ben DeCosta to cancel the design contract in August 2005. The very next day the company sued the airport claiming “fraud” and “bad faith”, blaming the airport authority for the problems. Recently, Ben DeCosta awarded a new design contract on the new international terminal to Gateway Designers. Current estimates place the terminal’s cost at $1.4 billion with a projected delivery in 2011.

Also scheduled to be completed after the new international terminal and concourse is a new terminal south of the current terminals. The new terminal is expected to include up to 70 gates. The project is currently known as the South Gate Complex, and is estimated to cost around $1.8 billion. The new terminal will be connected to the main terminal by an expanded automated people mover system.

The Consolidated Rental Car (CONRAC) facility, scheduled for completion by early 2009, will house all ten current airport rental agencies with capacity for additional companies. An automated people mover (using Mitsubishi Crystal Mover) will connect the facility to the airport and to the Gateway Center of the Georgia International Convention Center. A four-lane roadway will also be built to connect CONRAC to the existing airport road network.

The thirty-five year old runway 8R-26L was rehabbed and reopened on November 4, 2006.

An “end-around taxiway”, officially named Taxiway Victor, which opened in April 2007, is expected to save an estimated $26 million to $30 million in fuel by allowing airplanes landing on the northernmost runway to taxi to the gate area without hindering other aircraft taking off. The taxiway drops approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) from the runway elevation to allow takeoffs to continue.

Main Terminal and Baggage Claim

North Terminal

• Aeromexico
• Air Canada
• Air Canada Jazz
• Air Jamaica
• AirTran Airways
• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Continental Airlines
• Frontier Airlines
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
• Korean Air
• Lufthansa
• Midwest Airlines
• Northwest Airlines
• Spirit Airlines
• United Airlines
• US Airways operated by Air Wisconsin, Mesa Airlines, PSA Airlines, Republic Airlines

South Terminal

• Air France
• Delta Air Lines

o Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines
o Delta Connection operated by Chautauqua Airlines
o Delta Connection operated by Comair
o Delta Connection operated by Freedom Airlines
o Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines
o Delta Connection operated by Shuttle America
o Delta Connection operated by SkyWest

• Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. International Terminal

This terminal is currently under construction, with completion scheduled for 2011. It will be located on the east side of the airport, near Delta Air Lines’ Technical Operations Center (TechOps), on a site that has been occupied by air cargo facilities and the midfield control tower. The airport transit system will be extended to connect to the new terminal. Unlike the present situation, arriving international passengers whose final destination is Atlanta will be able to retain possession of their baggage as they proceed to exit the airport. Currently persons exiting customs must recheck baggage at Terminal E, take the Airport People Mover to the Main Terminals, and reclaim their luggage from the baggage carousels.

• South Gate Complex

The South Gate Complex is scheduled to be built after completion of the East International Terminal. This new terminal is planned to have up to 70 gates. No official name for the terminal has been announced as of yet. Construction has not yet begun on the South Gate Complex as of 2007.

Terminals, Airlines, and Destinations

Concourse T

Concourse T has 15 Gates: T1 – T15

• American Airlines Gates T9 – T12 (Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York-LaGuardia)
• Delta Air Lines (U.S. and Canada) Gates T1 – T8 (Albuquerque, Anchorage [seasonal], Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Bermuda, Birmingham (AL), Boise [seasonal], Boston, Bozeman [seasonal], Buffalo, Charleston (SC), Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbia (SC), Columbus (OH), Dallas/Fort Worth, Dayton, Daytona Beach, Denver, Detroit, Eagle/Vail [seasonal], El Paso, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Fort Walton Beach, Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem, Greenville/Spartanburg, Gulfport/Biloxi, Hartford, Hayden/Steamboat Springs [seasonal], Honolulu, Houston-Intercontinental, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Jackson (MS), Jackson Hole [seasonal], Jacksonville (FL), Kalispell [seasonal], Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Lexington, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Melbourne (FL), Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Mobile, Montrose/Telluride [seasonal], Nashville, New Orleans, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Newark, Newport News, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Ontario, Orange County, Orlando, Pensacola, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Providence, Raleigh/Durham, Reno/Tahoe, Richmond, Rochester (NY), Sacramento, St. Louis, St. Thomas, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), San Juan (PR), Sarasota/Bradenton, Savannah, Seattle/Tacoma, Tallahassee, Tampa, Toronto-Pearson, Tucson, Vancouver [seasonal], Washington-Dulles, Washington-Reagan, West Palm Beach)
• United Airlines Gates T13 – T15 (Chicago-O’Hare, Denver, San Francisco)

Concourse A

Concourse A has 34 Gates: A1 – A34

• Delta Air Lines Gates A1 – A34, Delta Connection operated by Shuttle America (Austin, Charlotte, Chicago-Midway, Chicago-O’Hare, Cleveland, Columbus (OH), Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston-Hobby, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, Washington-Reagan, White Plains)

Concourse B

Concourse B has 35 Gates: B1 – B36 (no B35)

• Delta Air Lines Gates B1 – B36; Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Buffalo, Charlotte, Greenville/Spartanburg, Houston-Hobby, Houston-Intercontinental, Kansas City, Knoxville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Richmond, San Antonio [begins June 5], Tallahassee), Delta Connection operated by SkyWest (Austin, Aspen [seasonal], Buffalo, Colorado Springs, Detroit, Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem, Greenville/Spartanburg, Houston-Hobby, Houston-Intercontinental, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, Pittsburgh, St. Louis)

Concourse C

Concourse C has 36 Gates: C1 – C36. Concourse C is the primary hub for AirTran Airways and Atlantic Southeast Airlines

• AirTran Airways Gate C1 – C20 (Akron/Canton, Baltimore/Washington, Bloomington, Boston, Buffalo, Charleston (SC), Charlotte, Chicago-Midway, Dallas/Fort Worth, Dayton, Daytona Beach [seasonal], Denver, Detroit, Flint, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Gulfport/Biloxi, Houston-Hobby, Indianapolis, Jacksonville (FL), Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Moline/Quad Cities, New Orleans, New York-LaGuardia, Newark, Newburgh, Newport News, Orlando, Pensacola, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Rochester (NY), St. Louis, San Antonio [begins June 11], San Diego [seasonal], San Francisco, San Juan (PR), Sarasota/Bradenton, Savannah, Seattle/Tacoma [seasonal], Tampa, Washington-Dulles, Washington-Reagan, West Palm Beach, White Plains, Wichita)
• Delta Air Lines Gates C21 – C36

Concourse D

Concourse D has 31 Gates: Gate D1 – D31. Concourse D also holds the overflow gates that any airline may use. These gates are unbranded by any airline.

• Air Canada Gate D11
• AirTran Airways Gates D1 – D7, D9, D11 (See Concourse C)
• Continental Airlines Gates D8, D8A, D10, D12 (Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
• Delta Air Lines D28 – D38
• Frontier Airlines Gates D5, D7 (Denver)
• Midwest Airlines Gate D7 (Milwaukee)
• Northwest Airlines Gates D11A, D13 – D16 (Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul)
• Spirit Airlines Gate D9 (Fort Lauderdale, Orlando)
• US Airways Gates D3, D21, D23, D25 (Charlotte, Las Vegas [ends August 19], Philadelphia, Phoenix)

International Concourse E

International Concourse E has 28 Gates: E1-E12, E14-E18, E26-E36

• Aeroméxico (Mexico City)
• Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
• Air Jamaica (Montego Bay)
• British Airways (London-Gatwick)
• Delta Air Lines (Domestic flights under Concourse T) (International) (Acapulco, Amsterdam, Antigua, Aruba, Athens, Barbados, Barcelona, Belize City, Bonaire, Bogotá, Brussels, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cancún, Caracas, Copenhagen, Cozumel, Dakar, Dubai, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Fort-de-France [ends June 12], Frankfurt, Grand Cayman, Guadalajara, Guatemala City, Guayaquil, Johannesburg, Kingston, Kuwait City [begins November 7], Lagos, Liberia (CR), Lima, London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Managua, Manchester (UK), Mexico City, Milan-Malpensa, Montego Bay, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Mumbai, Munich, Nassau, Panama City, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Pointe-à-Pitre [ends June 12], Port of Spain, Prague, Providenciales, Puerto Plata, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, Quito, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Roatán, Rome-Fiumicino, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, San José (CR), San José del Cabo, San Salvador, Santiago (DR) [begins December 20], Santiago de Chile, Santo Domingo, São Paulo-Guarulhos, San Pedro Sula, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Shannon [seasonal], Stockholm-Arlanda [begins June 3], Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Tobago, Tokyo-Narita, Venice, Vienna, Willemstad/Curaçao [seasonal], Zürich)
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam)
• Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
• Lufthansa (Frankfurt)

International Terminal F

• This is to be located on the east side of the airport, near Delta Air Lines’ Technical Operations Center (TechOps), on a site that has been occupied by air cargo facilities and the midfield control tower. The airport transit system will be extended to connect to the new terminal. Unlike the present situation involving concourses, arriving international passengers whose final destination is Atlanta will be able to retain possession of their baggage as they proceed to exit the airport. Direct roadside access is another factor which differentiates this terminal from the concourses. It is expected to open in 2010 at the earliest. When built, International Terminal F will have 10 new gates: F1 – F10, and a new customs facility.

Cargo Airlines

• Air France
• Alitalia Airlines
• Atlas Air
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific Airways
• China Airlines
• Cargolux Airlines
• EVA Air
• FedEx
• Japan Airlines
• Korean Air Cargo
• Lufthansa Cargo
• Martinair
• Mas Air
• Polar Air Cargo Worldwide
• United Parcel Service

Accidents and Incidents

Accidents en route

• April 4, 1977 Southern Airways Flight 242 (Huntsville to Atlanta, crashed en route a few dozen miles from Atlanta Airport)
• September 6, 1985 Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 (Milwaukee to Atlanta, crashed on takeoff at the airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• May 11, 1996 ValuJet Flight 592 (Miami to Atlanta, crashed en route from Miami International Airport in the Florida Everglades)
• August 27, 2006 Comair Flight 191 operating as Delta Connection Flight 5191 (Lexington to Atlanta, crashed on takeoff at the Lexington, Kentucky Airport)

Incidents

• On June 8, 1995 ValuJet Flight 597 suffered a catastrophic engine failure on the runway.
• On November 29, 2000 AirTran Airways Flight 956 executed an emergency landing shortly after takeoff, due to an electrical fire.
• On January 12, 2007, a stowaway was found dead on board a Delta Air Lines jet in the wheel well after arriving in Atlanta from Dakar, Senegal.
• On January 11, 2008 an Atlantic Southeast Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 and a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 came within 1,250 feet (380 m) of collision.

Chemical spills

• At the beginning of January 2002, the antifreeze used for deicing during snow overflowed from the drainage system into a stream. Because the airport is built over the beginning point of the Flint River, one of the major rivers in Georgia, it ended up in water systems which supply drinking water downstream. The problem was fixed before the next winter, though as of 2007 it has not snowed again enough to give it a significant real-life test.

Security incidents

• On November 16, 2001, a man left the secure area to retrieve his camera bag, which he had left behind, and then tried to bypass the wait at the security checkpoint by running the wrong way down the escalators at the secure area’s exit. As a result, the entire airport was evacuated, including all aircraft, and operations halted for three hours.
• Crime
• From December 2006 to March 2007, there were 30 arrests for indecent exposure involving reported sex acts in airport bathrooms. Several prominent persons were arrested, including an adviser for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a Spelman College professor, and the Chairman of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority board of directors.

Other Information

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

• Airport type: Public
• Owner: City of Atlanta
• Operator: Department of Aviation
• Serves: Atlanta, Georgia
• Location: College Park, East Point, Hapeville, Uninc., Fulton & Clayton Counties
• Elevation AMSL: 1,026 ft / 313 m
• Website: www.atlanta-airport.com

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