Emma N. Hurt

6 days ago | ajc.com | Emma N. Hurt

The concessionaire that operates the airport’s Concourse C food court started racking up unpaid rent bills before its restaurants even opened more than five years ago. Today, Global Concessions Inc. owes Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport about $4.6 million, a recent Chapter 11 filing shows, and the city-run airport is trying to force the company out of its contract.

1 week ago | ajc.com | Emma N. Hurt

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport didn’t stop any operations to celebrate its 100th birthday. Employees set up a massive stage and bleachers in the middle of the domestic terminal atrium to host the city’s former mayors, former general managers, elected officials and celebrities — as passengers continued making their way to their flights. “That’s what ATL does,” said Ryan Cameron, Atlanta radio host and voice of many of the airport’s recorded announcements.

1 week ago | ajc.com | Emma N. Hurt

Calling all early adopters: Atlantans can now sign up to be among the first to ride in the autonomous Waymo vehicles launching this summer via the Uber app. The news comes eight years after state leaders enabled this sea change by passinga bill allowing self-driving cars to operate on public roads. More StoriesKeep ReadingAtlanta’s industrial sector appears to be entering a cruising altitude after its rapid ascent.

1 week ago | ajc.com | Emma N. Hurt

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International has again been named the world’s busiest airport, just as it has nearly every year in the past quarter century. The airport, which is celebrating its 100th year this week, saw 108.1 million passengers last year. That’s up from 104.7 million in 2023, according to preliminary data from industry group Airports Council International World released Monday. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and its subsidiaries represented 78% of the airport’s 2024 traffic.

1 week ago | ajc.com | Emma N. Hurt

It’s an unlikely success story. An abandoned racetrack that went bankrupt becomes the world’s busiest airport. But Jackson McQuigg, a transportation historian at the Atlanta History Center and its VP of properties, says it’s no accident. “It was not luck. It was pluck, if you will.”The success of what is now Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, he argues, is the determination of Atlanta’s leaders to aim high and refuse to let the odds get in the way.