Atlanta airport announces $6 billion expansion plan (Columbus, Auburn: live in, vs., discount)

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Lawrenceville wanted to expand their airport to accommodate commercial service but the locals said HELL NO to that.

Can't say that I blame them.

Maybe the solution is to give regional airports such as the ones in Columbus and Augusta some love.

And Both of those airports have commercial service, are adequately suited to handle, and completely do not have something important called market demand.

People from Atlanta can already go there on their own and don't.

People/businesses across the region want added convenience and options, not an additional 1.5-2 hour drive from the Atlanta airport.


Walker1962,

A site in Gwinnett was never 'selected' to become 'the' 2nd Atlanta airport.

What happened was a private investment firm approached Gwinnett County to privatize the airport and part of that plan was to build a commercial terminal for commuter operations. They only wanted to build a 10-gate terminal and were willing to make a concession on it being limited to a 10-gate terminal as part of the privatization.

That firm then went to Paulding County after Gwinnett passed on the opportunity.

There was much speculation that the firm was going to have a contract with Southwest and it was the way they were trying to enter the Atlanta market, except they never stopped trying after Southwest bought AirTran and even down-sized the foot print out of ATL they had bought.

I suspect they were trying to sell gate space to airlines wanting to take on the Delta monopoly mainly flying between Atlanta and outside hubs and top markets, like NYC and Miami.

Now I happen to agree with this strategy. I don't think Atlanta needs another major airport, a Midway or a Love field. Those are leftovers from when those cities built a larger airport. I think we need 3-4 commuter terminals throughout town to not take-on ATL or be a hub, but offer some premium O&D product differentiation to boost the region's economy.

This is also what I would like to see for Dobbins. I think people in this city have trouble envisioning this and often overplay their impact, because they are so use to what ATL is and the extreme scale of an operation and traffic it is.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by Columbus1984

I can guarantee you that Columbus would be all in for that.

That's what I'm thinking. Why force commercial service on a place that doesn't want it? Why not invest in existing infrastructure that does want to expand some?

[JoeP]

Interesting.

[citidata18]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Interesting.

What's that?

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

That's what I'm thinking. Why force commercial service on a place that doesn't want it? Why not invest in existing infrastructure that does want to expand some?

That is why there has been a push for high-speed rail.

[SAAN]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

And Both of those airports have commercial service, are adequately suited to handle, and completely do not have something important called market demand.

People from Atlanta can already go there on their own and don't.

People/businesses across the region want added convenience and options, not an additional 1.5-2 hour drive from the Atlanta airport.


Walker1962,

A site in Gwinnett was never 'selected' to become 'the' 2nd Atlanta airport.

What happened was a private investment firm approached Gwinnett County to privatize the airport and part of that plan was to build a commercial terminal for commuter operations. They only wanted to build a 10-gate terminal and were willing to make a concession on it being limited to a 10-gate terminal as part of the privatization.

That firm then went to Paulding County after Gwinnett passed on the opportunity.

There was much speculation that the firm was going to have a contract with Southwest and it was the way they were trying to enter the Atlanta market, except they never stopped trying after Southwest bought AirTran and even down-sized the foot print out of ATL they had bought.

I suspect they were trying to sell gate space to airlines wanting to take on the Delta monopoly mainly flying between Atlanta and outside hubs and top markets, like NYC and Miami.

Now I happen to agree with this strategy. I don't think Atlanta needs another major airport, a Midway or a Love field. Those are leftovers from when those cities built a larger airport. I think we need 3-4 commuter terminals throughout town to not take-on ATL or be a hub, but offer some premium O&D product differentiation to boost the region's economy.

This is also what I would like to see for Dobbins. I think people in this city have trouble envisioning this and often overplay their impact, because they are so use to what ATL is and the extreme scale of an operation and traffic it is.

Peachtree Dekalb Airport would actually be a perfect 2nd ATL airport, as it is rigt by MARTA rail line and 30 mins North of Hartsfield, but would never happen though.

[Atlanta Scientist]

Columbus is 1.5 hours away from Atlanta. A second Atlanta airport needs to be in within metro Atlanta.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by SAAN

Peachtree Dekalb Airport would actually be a perfect 2nd ATL airport, as it is rigt by MARTA rail line and 30 mins North of Hartsfield, but would never happen though.

I agree it is a good option.

What is noteworthy about PDK is the local neighborhood resistance is particularly strong, but there is also a reason for it.

In many ways Dekalb messed up zoning policy in the '50s and '60s and placed too many single family homes too close to the airport and flight paths.

They have since made some very positive changes in removing a runway with a poor flight path and made their new longer runway place over an industrial/commercial corridor. They also bought out some of the older properties on that flight path using a program from the FAA to increase airport buffers.

The ultimate problem, is it already mobilized the community into a strong group.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Scientist

Columbus is 1.5 hours away from Atlanta. A second Atlanta airport needs to be in within metro Atlanta.

Well, that and 95% of metro Atlanta would have to drive past Hartsfield to get to Columbus.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

Well, that and 95% of metro Atlanta would have to drive past Hartsfield to get to Columbus.

That right there knocks it out of the competition.
The most solid proposal for a second airport continues to be Dobbins.