Aviation Specials – May 2018

ATLANTA

6 // Extreme Airports

IT’S THE

REAL

THING

Atlanta has topped the airport passenger throughput

tables for decades. Richard Randall explores the

origins and drivers of its phenomenal growth.

I

t’s the ninth most populous

metropolitan area in the USA although

the city itself is placed only 33rd. It’s

home to large corporations including The

Home Depot, United Parcel Service and

Coca-Cola but it’s not a global centre of

commerce or politics on the scale of New

York or Washington DC. It has hosted the

Olympic Games but it’s not close to any

alluring resorts or expansive recreation

regions. It’s not directly under any major

intercontinental air routes and yet it has

the world’s busiest airport. To understand

why so many passengers fl y through

Atlanta (ATL), it’s necessary to start by

reviewing the early development of US

commercial aviation.

Small beginnings

The fl edgling US airline industry really

began to spread its wings in the 1920s. By

the middle of the decade carriers such as

Pan American World Airways, Northwest

Airlines, National Air Transport, Varney

Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, Western Air

Express, Transcontinental Air Transport

and Colonial Air Transport – along with

ABOVE LEFT: An

Eastern Air Lines

Lockheed Electra

parked at the ‘jet

age’ terminal.

(AirTeamImages.

com/The Samba

Collection)

ABOVE: Delta’s

fi rst jets were

Douglas DC-8s.

(AirTeamImages.

com/The Samba

Collection)

BELOW: Atlanta

is Delta Air Lines’

largest hub.

(Renato Serra

Fonseca)

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