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Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport
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Hartsfield- Jackson International airport is among the busiest in the US. For example, in 2019 alone, 110 million people passed through the airport, while it handled about 56,000 metric tons of mail and cargo (New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2022). The facility is equally famous because it derives its name from two of the most popular US politicians, Maynard Jackson and Hartsfield. Typically, most US airports, including JF Kennedy, are popular because they derive their names from famous politicians. Hartsfield is a former mayor of Atlanta city and a council member. The latter founded the airport in one of the abandoned racetrack sites and became the airport’s first commissioner. Although there was an alternative to the racetrack, management chose it because it had adequate expansion room. One of the site’s essential features is that it was a central distribution point for the federal mail from New York City to Miami.
The City of Atlanta owns Hartsfield-Jackson International airport. Therefore, under the mayor, the city of Atlanta primarily manages the airport. There are various positions, with most of the top leadership and directors being appointed by the city of Atlanta Management Board (New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2022). The airport has a commercial and passenger NPIAS classification. Despite its popularity, it is smaller than NPIAS Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah (SLC), O’Hare International Airport, Chicago (ORD), San Francisco International Airport, California (SFO), and John F Kennedy Airport, New York City (JFK). Meaning it still has a lot of room for improvement to reach the status of the above top three airports in the US.
Furthermore, the support from the city and its attraction of companies such as Eastern Airlines and Delta Airlines offer this airport an opportunity for fast growth. The name Jackson was added to it in 2003 in honor of the late former Maynard Jackson, the former mayor of New York (New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2022). The move was due to the leader’s pivotal role in redeveloping the airport in the 70s. In addition, he was the first African American mayor of a significant southern city. Naming airports after prominent American personalities and leaders are common in the US and globally. The approach mainly aims at making these facilities famous and as well-known as the figures named after these airports. Therefore, it is justifiable to claim that the airport’s popularity is primarily due to its name.
By any measure, the airport is vast. The entire complex covers a landmass of 4700 acres, with its terminal complex covering approximately 130 acres (Henriques & Feiteira, 2018). Additionally, the facility houses more than two concession outlets, including beverage and food convenience and retail stores and staff service outlets. The North and South terminals consist of ticket purchase offices, the check in-s, and baggage claims. Concourse T is where the passengers undergo security checks, and it houses 15 gates. Once a person enters the secure area, there are 192 gates from Concourses A all through F and can be reached through an underground transportation section or mall. Additionally, apart from the moving sidewalks, 9-4 car trains operate on the tracks that run along both sides of the transportation mall and carry passengers in between concourses (New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2022). Therefore, the facilities between concourses A-F contribute to its operational excellence and passenger experience within the airport.
Moreover, having passengers moving from the underground allows all planes, including the tallest to smallest taxis, to directly into the airport gates from any part of the facility. Due to this reason, the airport has an underground passage manager. The feature also reduces congestion, which is characteristic of most airports globally. It is located in Clayton City, about ten miles from the South of Downtown Atlanta, elevating it approximately 1026 feet above sea level (New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2022). The feature enhances takeoffs of even the most heavily loaded planes, making it popular with large aircraft. Besides, reaching the facility is equally easy since passengers have several alternative routes, including but not limited to the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Authority (MARTA). In addition, travellers can arrive there and pack in one of the more than 30,000 parking spots around the facility. More than three hundred taxis are waiting on the call, and over 150 rental limousines, shuttles, and buses serve passengers at the airport.
The facility runways are also one of its main strengths. According to New Georgia Encyclopedia (2022), the airport has a ground cover of more than 4700 acres containing five runways. All these runways run from east to west, with two of them running north of the terminals and three south of the terminal. Having more than five runways allows this airport to handle several aircraft takeoffs and land simultaneously with concerns of the risk of intercrossing runways pathways. Further, the feature ensures that all the runways are in near-continuous operations (New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2022). Over 90 aircraft can land in fair weather, and more than 100 depart in an hour. The internal runways closest to the main terminals are the longest, approximately 12390 feet. The remaining are 9000 feet each. These dimensions affirm the precision of the airport runways’ design.
Further, the airport is designed depending on the flights that use each runway. For example, the longer internal runways aim to address challenging heavier flights such as jets. New Georgia Encyclopedia (2022) claims that jets require longer runways because they are more severe and take longer circulating the runways before taking off. It is due to this reason classification is commercial.
References
Henriques, R., & Feiteira, I. (2018). Predictive modelling: flight delays and associated factors, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International airport. Procedia computer science, 138, 638-645, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2018.10.085.
New Georgia Encyclopedia. (2022). Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Retrieved 10 April 2022, from https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/hartsfield-jackson-atlanta-international-airport/#:~:text=HartsfieldJacksonAtlantaInternationalAirportisoneofthebusiest,importantGeorgiapoliticiansWilliamB.