A new study by the Federal Aviation Administration warns airports around the country to expand, otherwise they won't be able to meet the growing demand for international air travel and freight.
The study comes on the first anniversary of Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson expanded fifth runway and coincides with a $1-million dollar grant to the airport.
Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson airport joins nearly 2 dozen others across the country with limited choices: expand or perish.
The $1-millon dollar grant from the federal Department of Transportation will fund the first ever airport expansion feasibility study.
Federal Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters says one other option metro areas should consider is converting dormant military bases to civilian use.
"Make no mistake, building a handful of airports is not enough to get us off the hook. Our new report shows that by 2025, 15 metropolitian areas won't have the ability to handle the demand for flights unless they move forward with planned improvement."
Ben DeCosta is general manager for Hartsfield Jackson. DeCosta supports regional expansion but says, an additional runway at Hartfield Jackson is not an option.
"We'll look at everything and see what's in the best interests of our region. It's something that local leaders will have to address, not only in the best interest of the local economy but in the best interests of the region and the nation."
In 2006, nearly 100 million people passed through the terminals at Hartsfield Jackson. Airport officials say a burgeoning international travel market makes a second airport essential to the region's economic viability.
A feasibility study on just where a second airport might be located is still years away.
Meanwhile, as construction continues at Hartsfield Jackson, airport officials contemplate doubling the passenger facility fee to $7-dollars. That's the amount passengers pay above the actual ticket price. Hartsfield officials say the money is an important source of funding airport construction.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Hartsfield Jackson get $1 million to study expansion
Monday, December 24, 2007
Hartsfield-Jackson: Few Travel Weather Woes
Hartsfield-Jackson. (Google Earth)
Bad weather in other parts of the country caused mild traveling headaches over the weekend at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights to New York, Newark and Philadelphia at one point were experiencing delays of between two and four hours.
The delays at the nation's busiest airport were blamed on storms and wind in the Midwest and Northeast. But officials told reporters that security lines were still moving well.
Click here for more GPB coverage of Hartsfield-Jackson.
(The Associated Press)
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Getting Home After The Holidays
Hartsfield-Jackson. (Google Earth)
Travelers heading home after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend swarmed airports Sunday but without the long lines and delays many had feared.
"So far, at least, it's been reasonable,'' Alli Charney of Atlanta said as she waited for a flight at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. "I just left very early, got a good night's rest and drank lots of coffee.''Airport officials estimated about 1.8 million people would pass through Hartsfield during the long holiday weekend, including about 324,000 people on Sunday and 305,000 expected on Monday.
That is about a 4.6 percent increase in holiday weekend traffic from last year, airport spokesman Herschel Grangent said Sunday. Despite light rain, wait times were low at the airport about 25 minutes on Sunday, Grangent said.
But not all travelers were pleased.
Ben Oni had to wait an extra 12 hours at Atlanta for his flight home to San Jose, Calif., while lugging a 32-inch flat screen television, because he missed the check-in deadline for his original flight by one minute.
"It's awful. I feel very unhappy, extremely unhappy and disappointed,'' the program manager said.Oni was one of about 324,000 people expected to pass through the world's busiest airport and brave what is typically one of the airport's busiest travel days of the year.
(The Associated Press)
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Airport gets high marks for holiday handling
Members of the national House Aviation Subcommittee toured Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport today. They wanted to see how the world's busiest airport fared during the four-day Thanksgiving holiday.
Georgia Republican Representative Lynn Westmoreland was among those who toured the airport. Westmoreland gave Hartsfield-Jackson high marks for moving an estimated 310-thousand passengers per day over the Thanksgiving holiday. But he did say there is room for improvement.
"Right now, you get into those screening lines and you come to a chokepoint. We need to do something to do way with that chokepoint. It would take a little bit of reconfiguring inside the airport. We're going to look at several different things we think would expedite the systems."One suggestion from the subcommittee: pre-screen frequent flyers and pass them through a different security gate.
Airport officials dispute the group's finding of delays of up to 40 minutes. A spokesperson for Hartsfield Jackson says peak wait time over the holiday was just 20 minutes.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Poor Economy Slows Atlanta Airport Project
The recession isn't the only problem for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that threatens construction on its long-delayed international terminal.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines warns that rising costs at the airport raise questions about the size of the carrier's future operations there. The warning comes as Delta prepares for talks with airport officials on new airline leases.
Hartsfield-Jackson's existing 30-year airline agreements expire next year, and formal talks are expected to begin in the next couple of months.
Airport spokesman John Kennedy says construction may likely be halted anyway in the next few weeks due to tight credit markets.
The $1.6 billion project is three years behind schedule. The latest projection is for a 2012 opening.
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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
http://www.ajc.com
(AP)
Click here for more GPB News coverage about Hartsfield-Jackson.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Delta flight returns to Hartsfield-Jackson after loud 'pop'
A Delta jet headed from Atlanta to Lima, Peru, returned to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after the flight crew heard a loud pop.
The crew heard the noise early Sunday morning as the plane was over Florida. The pilot turned the plane around and safely returned to the airport in Atlanta.
Delta officials said a defective seal on an exit door caused the pop. The plane was repaired and is back in service.
The 178 passengers on the plane were switched to other flights.
Click here for more GPB coverage about Delta and here for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
(The Associated Press)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
FAA: corrupted software shut down Atlanta system
Tuesday's mass flight delays caused by an electronic communication failure at a Federal Aviation Administration facility near Atlanta drew new criticism for an agency that has been scrutinized over air traffic controller staffing levels and inspection standards for its ground-based equipment.
The software glitch that delayed flights at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and nationwide, came as the FAA celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Kathleen Bergen is spokesperson at the FAA’s Naden facility at Hampton, south of Atlanta:
“The system went down during a normal, daily software load. Apparently a file was corrupted and that brought the system down… the Naden outage resulted in about 650 flight delays nationwide -- 140 of those in Atlanta.”Hartsfield-Jackson is the busiest airport in the world, but Bergen says no flights were endangered from the software failure:
“The fact that we are in Atlanta, it is a busy airport, all our flight plans are processed through our facility in Hampton did create a bit of difficulty yesterday. But the important thing is that all the fights departed and arrived safely.”Bergen says the FAA plans to update the Atlanta, and Salt Lake City facilities – which handles all flight plans west of the Mississippi -- early next year.
The Northeast was hardest hit by the delays prompted Tuesday by a glitch at a Hampton, Ga., facility that processes flight plans for the eastern half of the U.S.
As of Wednesday morning, the FAA said that the situation around the country had returned to normal, with most delays from the malfunction being cleared up Tuesday night. But spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said the investigation into what caused the problem is still ongoing, and she did not know when it would be completed.
"It usually takes a while to be quite honest," she said.A spokesman for Hartsfield-Jackson, did not return a call seeking comment on the impact there from Tuesday's episode. Bergen said officials at the Atlanta airport were entering flight data manually to try to speed things up.
Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, said the episode "once again highlights the need to reform and repair a broken system." His Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, said "airline passengers are sick and tired of delays and cancellations." And the nonprofit Travel Industry Association called it "one more example of America's deteriorating air travel system."Discount carrier AirTran Airways, which has its hub at the Atlanta airport, said in a statement that because of the suburban FAA center snafu it was at one point taking up to an hour for the FAA to get clearances to the towers for departures Tuesday. Delta Air Lines Inc., which has its main hub in Atlanta, said flights were processing for takeoff, but slowly.
Click here for more on this story.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Fog, rain slow some flights at Hartsfield-Jackson
Delta Airlines jets line up at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (AP/John Bazemore)
Fog and rain caused some flight delays at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport at the start of the busiest travel day of the year.
But airport officials on Sunday say they're off to a crowded, but smooth start for Thanksgiving travelers trying to get home.
National Weather Service meteorologist Patricia Atwell says weather conditions were causing low visibility that could slow aircraft arrivals.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported departure delays between 15 to 30 minutes and arrival delays of about 45 minutes Sunday morning because of clouds and low visibility.
Airport officials urged travelers to do their homework -- checking flight status, security waits and available parking -- before getting to the airport.
Click here for more GPB News coverage of travel and transportation issues.
Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com
(AP)
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Drought: Macon offers water to ATL airport
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
The city of Macon has offered to sell water to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Mayor Jack Ellis says he discussed the idea with Atlanta officials yesterday and is waiting to hear what their needs are and what storage capacity is available.
Ellis says he was inspired by televised statements from Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin asking residents to conserve water because the lingering drought is threatening the water supply.
The Macon Water Authority says the middle Georgia city has a 6.5 billion gallon reservoir with enough water to supply the area for nearly 500 days.
Click here for comprehensive GPB News coverage of the drought.
(The Associated Press)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Airlines threaten to move flights from Atlanta
They say if their costs can’t remain competitive with the fees they must pay at the Atlanta airport, they could take their connecting flight business elsewhere.
Their lease agreements with Hartsfield-Jackson don’t expire until September 2010.
Neither Delta nor Airtran are thinking about pulling out altogether.
The two carriers represent roughly 93 percent of the traffic at the Atlanta airport. According to the airport, their business with all airlines is expected to generate about 160 million dollars in revenue for 2009.
(Associated Press)
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Busy travel day expected at Atlanta airport
It's expected to be a busy travel day at
A spokesman says more than 300,000 passengers are expected to
Currently, all 22 security lanes are open and there is about a
About 1.8 million people were expected to pass through the
Another burst of passengers is expected over the New Year's
(The Associated Press)
Click here for more GPB News coverage of holiday traffic.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Winning Little Leaguers arrive in Atlanta
Family, friends and fans greet arriving Little League world champions from Warner Robins at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Monday, August 27, 2007.
(Valarie Edwards)
Warner Robin Little League team holds press conference at ATL's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, following world championship win in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Warner Robins Mayor Donald Walker is on hand to congratulate the team. Pictured is 12-year old first basemen, Micha Wells.
(Valarie Edwards)
Pictured (l-r) sisters 13-year-old Karley Gann,
(Valarie Edwards)
Team manager Mickey Lay introduces the winning Warner Robin Little League team during press conference.
(Valarie Edwards)
Friday, January 23, 2009
Atlanta Has Busiest Airport
(Associated Press)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Franklin asks court to postpone gun hearing
The city of Atlanta is asking a federal court to postpone a hearing requested by gun advocates. The group Georgia Carry dot org, had asked the court to override the city’s prohibition against guns at Hartsfield Jackson airport. In a written statement, Atlanta’s Mayor Shirley Franklin says the city will aggressively defend this lawsuit and our long standing practice of prohibiting firearm weapons at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. A law allowing gun holders with a conceal carry permit to take their gun in public places including on public transit systems went into effect on July 1 .
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Chambliss: fed bailout crucial for Georgians, country
Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss said his vote for the Wall Street bailout was crucial for Georgians. Chambliss was speaking at a press conference in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Oct 2, 2008. (Carl Zornes)
Chambliss says his Senate vote okaying the 700-billion dollar funding measure is in line with public sentiment:
“The overwhelming majority of the american people, and certainly the majority of Georgians, I know, support the Congress as policymakers, making sure that we don’t slide down into a financial depression.”While Chambliss voted for the measure, all of Georgia's Republican House members opposed it in a vote on Monday. Chambliss says he hopes they will now throw their support behind the hotly debated bailout.
Sen. Johnny Isakson voted for the bill, as did both presidential candidates, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain.
Chambliss says Georgia's economy could take a hit without it's passage. The House is expected to vote on the measure on Friday.
Talking to reporters at the Senate, Chambliss said:
"We’ve got Georgia banks who are crimped from a credit standpoint and aren’t even able to make automobile loans today,"Addressing reporters at a press conference at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport the morning after the vote, Chambliss said:
"We have major employers who are having their lines of credit cut or in some cases cancelled. And it's going to start costing us jobs.”
"Taking no action is simply not an option. We simply can't afford for the stock market to have losses of one point two trillion dollars on any kind of regular basis."
Click here for the GPB News elections blog.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
FAA Investigating Near-Collision at Hartsfield-Jackson
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a near-collision of two airplanes on the runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday.
Investigators believe an Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight bound for Greensboro, N.C., ignored orders from the control tower to stop its taxi across the runway, coming within seconds of running into a Mexico-bound Delta Air Lines Inc. jet, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.
The ASA pilot acknowledged the orders and repeated them back to controllers in the tower but did not stop, Bergen said.
The ASA jet was carrying 44 passengers, and the Delta flight had 130 aboard.
Air traffic controllers estimated the planes came within 1,250 feet - or about 2 to 3 seconds - of colliding. Both continued on their scheduled flights and arrived safely at their destinations, airline officials said.
ASA is a Delta Connection carrier and is owned by SkyWest Inc.
(The Associated Press)
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Post Christmas travel moving at Hartsfield
Officials at the world's busiest airport in Atlanta say they expect nearly 2-million people to pass through before holiday season 2007 officially ends. At Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, the Friday before Christmas saw passenger numbers peak at 324-thousand, says airport spokesperson Herschel Grangent. Grantgent says things ran smoothly on the ground, despite the volume. "We had an agreement with the TSA to keep all the lanes open for screening throughout all the peak times, which helped us to stay on top of everything." And, for the day after Christmas, Grangent says ... "We're expecting about 300-thousand people to come through. But, we're making plans to manage that by keeping as many personnel here as possible to help keep the crowd moving and get everybody where they're trying to go." Bad weather in the Midwest has not affected flights in and out of Hartsfield. However, there is a bit of a delay if you have to go through security. Estimated wait times at the airport's nearly 2-dozen gates is running about 20 minutes.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Severe storms hit; planes delayed at Hartsfield
Severe storms are sweeping across much of north Georgia, generating heavy rain, hail and winds thatdowned trees and powerlines. Flights were delayed for up to 90 minutes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as dark gray clouds swirled in from the west. A possible tornado was reported in northwest Georgia's Chattooga County. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Peachtree Citywere so busy tracking the storms that they could not immediately confirm the twister. Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokesman Ken Davis says there's a report of three possible tornadoes striking in FranklinCounty, more than a 100 miles away in northeast Georgia. Heavy storms also pelted several counties south of Atlanta.
(Associated Press)
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Radar snafus at Hartsfield cause delays
Federal Aviation Administration officials say a brief outage of the ground radar at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday caused delays of about an hour on arriving and departing flights. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the radar that allows air traffic controllers to see planes on the runways went down about 10:25 a.m. Bergen said the radar started working again about 11:10 a.m. The equipment failure coupled with low-sitting clouds meant many flights were delayed at the world's busiest airport. According to the FAA Web site, flights to Chicago experienced delays of up to 2 hours because of snow and ice there.
(Associated Press)
Friday, August 31, 2007
Hartsfield Airport Expects 1.3 million
The nation's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International, is expecting 1.3 million people to pass through its door's this Labor Day weekend. That is an estimated six percent increase in traffic from last year’s Labor Day holiday.
The Transportation Security Administration has sent extra workers; every security lane in the airport is open.
Airport official, Herschel Grangent, told GPB news that the goal is for travelers to have to wait no more than 30-minutes in line, even during peak hours. "That’s the goal: to keep everybody happy, keep everybody moving and getting to their planes on time," Grangent said.
Almost 250,000 people are expected at the airport per day. The heaviest travel is expected to be on Friday.