Quick LinksATL is named after two former mayors ATL has the tallest ATC tower in the US ATL was late to get international flights ATL is an art lover's paradise ATL has a 'Beagle Brigade'
When I first moved to Atlanta nearly two decades ago as part of a team helping to test and launch a new-fangled device called an 'iPhone', I knew very little about the city itself. Sure, I had seen it on television during the 1996 Olympics, I had heard about the Braves, and I knew it was home to Coca-Cola, but that was about it.
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But as an aviation enthusiast, I also knew it was home to Delta Air Lines, and like all of us have heard many times, it has the world's busiest airport. So as someone who travels a lot for business, I was excited to explore it further. All these years later, after a few thousand flights to and from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), it feels like a second home to me. So, let me share a few fast facts about it that you may not know.
Photo: Darryl Brooks | Shutterstock ✕ Remove Ads 1 ATL is named after two former mayors Both were commercial aviation visionaries
We all know who JFK, IAH, or DCA are named after, but ATL is a bit of a mystery to some. The airport is named after two former mayors of Atlanta, William Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson. Hartsfield is credited with having the vision of Atlanta as an aviation hub. In a city founded as a railroad hub, he believed it could develop further and be the same for air transportation.
Photo: ATL History Center
As an alderman, Hartsfield helped establish Atlanta's first airport in 1925, playing a prominent role in selecting the site for the airport, which was originally an abandoned racetrack owned by Asa Candler, a Coca-Cola tycoon.
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As mayor, he invested heavily in the airport, luring large airlines such as Delta and Eastern Airlines and building out its infrastructure, believing that the investments would pay back to the city. He wasn't wrong: Today, ATL is Georgia's largest employer (63,000 people) and generates a $35 billion economic impact for Metro Atlanta and $66 billion for Georgia each year.
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Maynard Jackson was mayor from the 1970s to the 1990s, and oversaw the investment in the terminal complex that began in 1977 and ran up to the 1996 Olympics. Billed as the largest construction project in the South, it included:
✕ Remove Ads Terminals: Construction of the South Terminal, which today serves Delta domestic flights, and the North Terminal, which serves all other domestic airlines. Concourses: The present-day Concourses A through D opened in 1980, on time and under budget. They were designed to accommodate up to 55 million passengers annually, which was more than double the used capacity at the time. Runways: A fourth parallel runway was completed in 1984, and the pre-existing runways were extended. , International facilities: The northern half of the present-day Concourse T was initially built as an international terminal, but it was later extended and converted to a domestic terminal when Concourse E opened in 1994 as the international terminal in advance of the 1996 Olympics. Connectivity: Atlanta's MARTA rail service was extended to the ATL with the opening of the airport station in 1988. ✕ Remove Ads 2 ATL has the tallest ATC tower in the US It rises 398 feet (121 meters) above the airport
It stands to reason that the world's busiest airport requires a sizable ATC tower, and ATL's tower is the tallest ATC facility in the country. It was built in 2006 and opened with the airport's southerly runway (10/28), the fifth runway added to ATL. Runway 10/28 is about a mile from the main terminal area in Atlanta, so the tower was built to provide controllers with visibility of the runway and views of the airport's other four runways.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Standing just under 400 feet, the ATL tower is nearly 30 feet taller than the next-tallest in the US at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (CLT). However, it is only the fifth tallest in the world. The ATC towers at Jeddah, Kuala Lampur (main tower and terminal 2 tower) and Bangkok, are all over 400 feet tall.
✕ Remove Ads Related Which US Airports Have The Tallest Air Traffic Control Towers?
A guide to the US' highest ATC facilities.
2 3 ATL was late to get international flights First international flights only began in the 1970s
For such a large airport, ATL took surprisingly long to initiate international flights. While Pan Am pioneered transatlantic passenger flight in the late 1930s, and a decade later had regular passenger service to Europe using DC-4s and later its new Lockheed Constellations, ATL did not initiate its first international service until 30 years later.
It finally came when Eastern Air Lines established a route to Mexico City (MEX), which was followed by a route to Montego Bay (MBJ) shortly thereafter, initially using its Douglas DC-8s and then Lockheed L-1011 TriStars. Delta followed a few years later with its first transatlantic service to London Gatwick (LGW) in 1978.
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Today, ATL serves over 70 international destinations in 43 countries and averages over 100 international flights a day.
Close 4 ATL is an art lover's paradise There are thousands of artworks throughout ATL
ATL has a long history of commissioning and displaying exceptional artwork for the nearly 300,000 people who pass through the airport each day.
The initiative dates back to the 1970s, when the new Domestic Terminal was constructed. The airport commissioned and installed large-scale, permanent artworks by local artists, for which it won two Governor's Awards for the Arts.
Photo: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ✕ Remove Ads
Spurred on by the favorable feedback, ATL secured two full-time positions in the City of Atlanta Cultural Affairs Department to implement and maintain a permanent art program at the airport. Their first work included a series of new artworks to welcome the world to Atlanta for the 1996 Olympic Games, which were installed at the center point and at every gate of the newly built Concourse E.
Photo: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Today, ATL is home to thousands of different exhibits and artworks, so the next time you are passing through the airport that connects you to everywhere, be sure to look out for the following notable exhibits:
✕ Remove Ads Good Trouble: A Tribute to Congressman John Lewis. A moving tribute to Atlanta's civil rights icon, situated in the domestic terminal before security. Zimbabwe: A Tradition in Stone. A permanent exhibition of Zimbabwean sculptures that can be found in the transportation mall between concourses T and A. Walk Through Atlanta History: A mural and multimedia exhibit between Concourses B and C showcasing the city's history and its prominent residents. Youth Art: A rotating collection of artworks from youth artists in Georgia, spread acorss three exhibits in concourses T, D, and E Flight Paths: An exhibit simulating a walk through a forest with immersive lighting, video, projection, and sound effects is in the 450-foot walkway between concourses A and B. ✕ Remove Ads 5 ATL has a 'Beagle Brigade' The detector dogs are all trained in Georgia
I've saved the most fun fact for last... We've all seen or experienced the working dogs of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at airports across the US. Some are searching for narcotics, but more often, your bags are being sniffed for illegal fauna or flora that cannot be moved through US ports of entry. At ATL, these agriculture detector dogs are extra special. Called the 'Beagle Brigade', they are made up entirely of beagles that have been rescued and are subsequently trained not far from the airport at the National Detector Dog Training Center in Newnan, Georgia.
Photo: USCBP
The unit chooses beagles because of their demeanor and great sense of smell, as Clay Thomas, Atlanta Area Port Director for CBP, explains:
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"Beagles are easy to work with and highly intelligent, so easy to train. But the breed has an almost unique ability to discriminate and target a specific odor, such as a foreign vegetable, insects or even live animals, which make them invaluable in detecting prohibited agricultural items hidden from view."
So, next time you're passing through ATL, be sure to look for the Beagle Brigade. Just remember, though, the canine officers cannot accept treats or affection while working on the job!
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