ATL Airport | World's Busiest/Largest Airport (Atlanta, Tucker: middle-class, subdivisions, compensation)

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by primaltech

I would probably fly American or United if going to O'Hare. Last time I flew Delta there it was hard to locate my flight on the boards, as the other airlines were all second class to those 2.

Delta is much more focused on ATL than United or American are on ORD. Shockingly over the course of a day, roughly 50% of Delta mainline flights are going into ATL or out of ATL.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Anyway, the Atlanta airport is great, but, why is that the only transportation infrastructure that Georgia seems ever able to focus on? It's just one piece of travel.

Your comment raises an excellent point, which is that (besides maybe the international seaports at Savannah and Brunswick) Georgia often seems to focus more on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport more than any other piece of transportation infrastructure.

And that’s probably because Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has proven to be and continues to prove to be a massive economic development and jobs generator for the state of Georgia.

Because of its critical importance to Georgia’s economy, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the state’s number one-rated economic asset in the state of Georgia.

Another reason that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport often appears to be the only transportation infrastructure that Georgia ever seems to be able to focus on seems to be because of the state’s deeply conservative libertarian and somewhat naturalist preservationalist culture (particularly in North Georgia) that has an aversion to both transit and large-scale road construction projects.

Though, with the Atlanta Airport being a major (if not THE major) focal point when it comes to transportation infrastructure issues in the state of Georgia, it must be noted that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is owned, operated, maintained and funded by Atlanta city government and not Georgia state government.

With Georgia state government’s noted historical aversion to funding large-scale infrastructure projects, there is an argument to be made that Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport probably would not exist as we know it today as the world’s busiest airport for about 23 of the last 24 years if matters of funding such a massive piece of infrastructure had been left up to Georgia state government.

[MichiganderTexan]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Anyway, the Atlanta airport is great, but, why is that the only transportation infrastructure that Georgia seems ever able to focus on? It's just one piece of travel.

Because the idiotic Georgia residents don't have any power to stop airport expansions/investment like they do roads and transit.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by MichiganderTexan

Because the idiotic Georgia residents don't have any power to stop airport expansions/investment like they do roads and transit.

Yeah, I guess that is the reason. The airport expansions don't have to be approved by referendum, and then shot down in said referendum because retired old folks are the only people who consistently vote.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by MichiganderTexan

Because the idiotic Georgia residents don't have any power to stop airport expansions/investment like they do roads and transit.

Originally Posted by primaltech

Yeah, I guess that is the reason. The airport expansions don't have to be approved by referendum, and then shot down in said referendum because retired old folks are the only people who consistently vote.

Georgia residents (along with the help of some of the regional and national environmentalists that successfully blocked construction of the Outer Perimeter and Northern Arc highways back in the early 2000’s) have for decades blocked the construction of a second Atlanta area airport on City of Atlanta-owned wilderness land in Dawson County and in recent years have stopped meaningful expansion attempts of locally-owned airports in Gwinnett and Paulding counties.

It probably also should be reiterated that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is an Atlanta city government-owned facility and not a Georgia state government-owned facility.

So aside from paying about only 10% of the cost to build the 90% federally-funded Interstate highways that provide superhighway access to and from the facility, most of Georgia (including most Georgia residents outside of the City of Atlanta proper along with Georgia state government) had no say in the constant expansion of the Atlanta Airport that has been going on continuously now for nearly 100 years.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

...most of Georgia (including most Georgia residents outside of the City of Atlanta proper along with Georgia state government) had no say in the constant expansion of the Atlanta Airport that has been going on continuously now for nearly 100 years.

Which is kind of funny since the airport is mostly in unincorporated Clayton County, isn't it?

I know the terminals area and the MARTA station and all that is located in the city of College Park, which is a city in both Fulton and Clayton counties.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Which is kind of funny since the airport is mostly in unincorporated Clayton County, isn't it?

I know the terminals area and the MARTA station and all that is located in the city of College Park, which is a city in both Fulton and Clayton counties.

It's basically split down the middle. Generally, the North Terminal, half of the MARTA station and the Northern ends of the Concourses are in Fulton.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Which is kind of funny since the airport is mostly in unincorporated Clayton County, isn't it?

I know the terminals area and the MARTA station and all that is located in the city of College Park, which is a city in both Fulton and Clayton counties.

Yep.

Roughly about 85-90% of the ATL Airport property (including the entire current passenger terminal complex) is located in Clayton County. While, much of the western third of the ATL Airport property actually sits within the corporate limits of the City of College Park.

Though, one interesting thing is that there were numerous displacements of College Park, South Fulton County and Northwest Clayton County residents when the Airport property underwent multiple rounds of large-scale expansions in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 2000’s.

The State of Georgia (GDOT) also relocated the I-85 roadway to its current location roughly about 1/4th of a mile to the west of its original alignment so that the current domestic terminal and parking area could be built in the late 1970’s.

[MichiganderTexan]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Yep.

Though, one interesting thing is that there were numerous displacements of College Park, South Fulton County and Northwest Clayton County residents when the Airport property underwent multiple rounds of large-scale expansions in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 2000’s.

The State of Georgia (GDOT) also relocated the I-85 roadway to its current location roughly about 1/4th of a mile to the west of its original alignment so that the current domestic terminal and parking area could be built in the late 1970’s.

The demographics of College Park, South Fulton and Clayton County are different than that of Northwest and Northeast Georgia where an outer perimeter was most likely to be built though.

[DabOnEm]

Originally Posted by PacoMartin

Delta is much more focused on ATL than United or American are on ORD. Shockingly over the course of a day, roughly 50% of Delta mainline flights are going into ATL or out of ATL.

That's because United and AA have better located hubs across the country, United especially. Therefore more of the wealth is shared. I feel like Kansas City could be a candidate for Delta expansion as a mid-continent transfer hub. With the growth in the SE, ATL is for sure a great hub to keep building.