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  #1461  
Old Posted Dec 4, 2009, 8:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trainiac View Post
Looks like next Tuesday (Dec 8th) is the first day of the SkyTrain and new car rental facility. The new hotel doesn't open until the 18th

Anybody interested in meeting up some time next week to check it out? I could do Tuesday or Wednesday at lunch or right after work (5:30-6 or so). Meet on the SkyTrain platform nearest the airport.
i could be down for that but could only do wednesday.

let me know how things look as we get closer, i'd love to check it out.
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  #1462  
Old Posted Dec 7, 2009, 6:12 AM
Rothwell Rothwell is offline
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Originally Posted by atlantaguy View Post
Seriously, it's not that bad at all on other carriers. While concourses T, A, B & E are obviously the nicest (Delta country), I've recently flown out and back on Airtran from C, and it was fine. LOT's of new retail, and the renovations are impressive, imo.

Granted, I haven't seen D in person in about 2 years.
Whenever I've connected in ATL from a Delta flight to a non-Delta flight its been bad. My departing plane is always waiting at the opposite end from where I arrived.

Still a fantastic airport. It just seems like any carrier that isn't Delta gets sent to out-of-the-way, obscure gates.
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  #1463  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2009, 10:30 PM
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ATL SkyTrain

Well, it's open and lots of folks were already using it to get to their rental cars. First off, it's a rubber tire train (similar to the existing interconcourse people-movers) very utilitarian inside (ie, no seats) and should be very easy to keep the cars shiny and clean. The track is really curvy and the switching is a little rough getting close to the platforms.

Funny rebranding: MARTA is now "City Train" and this is "Sky Train"

It goes Airport --> Gateway Center --> Rental Cars; then the train cars just go backwards back to the airport. Two consists of two joined cars each going back and forth and headways do end up being about 2 minutes.

I'd never seen the Georgia International Convention Center before but the outside looks fine. It's maybe twice as big as the whole Civic Center complex. There will be two hotels at this stop, the Marriott is supposed to open in a couple of weeks and it's hideous. The other one is supposed to open next fall and it looks much better and should relate pretty well to the new train. This stop is kind of funny, each end has a separate elevator/stair tower, so it's kind of like a 60 foot bridge over a dinky little road.

On to the rental facility. The platforms are at the top and then a really interesting tangle of escalators takes you down to the various rental company counters. Really nice piece of work. This is the best concentrated rental facility I've ever seen -- way better than the newish one at DFW. I wonder how many shuttle buses they will be able to get rid of with this move? I hope they've figured out what to do in icy conditions because all of the track bed is exposed. If I ever need to rent a car, I'll definitely be taking MARTA to the airport.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATL_Skytrain

Worth a visit. BTW, the architectural model of the new international terminal is in the rotunda and the models of various Sky Train elements are near the MARTA entrance -- nice touch.
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  #1464  
Old Posted Dec 9, 2009, 11:14 PM
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trainiac,
Thanks for the update. I may have the oppurtunity in the next couple of weeks to use that facility. Have a question though...how is getting on the Sky Train connected to the existing terminal? I know it's to the west of the MARTA station but do you have to go outside to get to it or is all indoors till you get to the platform like MARTA?
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  #1465  
Old Posted Dec 10, 2009, 4:35 AM
smArTaLlone smArTaLlone is offline
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Originally Posted by Pompuss View Post
trainiac,
Thanks for the update. I may have the oppurtunity in the next couple of weeks to use that facility. Have a question though...how is getting on the Sky Train connected to the existing terminal? I know it's to the west of the MARTA station but do you have to go outside to get to it or is all indoors till you get to the platform like MARTA?
You do have to walk outside to where the shuttle buses pick up but it is covered.
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  #1466  
Old Posted Dec 10, 2009, 5:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rothwell View Post
Whenever I've connected in ATL from a Delta flight to a non-Delta flight its been bad. My departing plane is always waiting at the opposite end from where I arrived.

Still a fantastic airport. It just seems like any carrier that isn't Delta gets sent to out-of-the-way, obscure gates.
Rothwell - I can totally understand where you're coming from. I have to admit, interline connections (Delta to non-Delta) aren't as common as they used to be. At any rate, heres a breakdown on who is where.

Terminal T (Closest in - no train ride required)
North Side - American & United
South Side - Delta (A lot of high-frequency flights to major business centers)

Terminals A, B - Delta

Terminal C - AirTran

Terminal D - All other domestic carriers & Air Canada

Terminal E - Delta & all other international carriers

Hope this helps a little.
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  #1467  
Old Posted Dec 11, 2009, 10:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atlantaguy View Post
Rothwell - I can totally understand where you're coming from. I have to admit, interline connections (Delta to non-Delta) aren't as common as they used to be. At any rate, heres a breakdown on who is where.

Terminal T (Closest in - no train ride required)
North Side - American & United
South Side - Delta (A lot of high-frequency flights to major business centers)

Terminals A, B - Delta

Terminal C - AirTran

Terminal D - All other domestic carriers & Air Canada

Terminal E - Delta & all other international carriers

Hope this helps a little.
A little clarification if I may.

Concourse T: North - American & United / South - Delta (domestic & international)
Concourse A: Delta
Concourse B: Delta
Concourse C: North - Delta connection carriers / South - AirTran
Concourse D: North - Delta / South - all other domestic carriers
Concourse E: Delta (domestic & international) & all other international carriers (however, no airline may place sinage/branding anywhere on the concourse)
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  #1468  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2009, 12:07 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atlantaguy View Post
Rothwell - I can totally understand where you're coming from. I have to admit, interline connections (Delta to non-Delta) aren't as common as they used to be. At any rate, heres a breakdown on who is where.

Terminal T (Closest in - no train ride required)
North Side - American & United
South Side - Delta (A lot of high-frequency flights to major business centers)

Terminals A, B - Delta

Terminal C - AirTran

Terminal D - All other domestic carriers & Air Canada

Terminal E - Delta & all other international carriers

Hope this helps a little.
There are pros and cons to ATL setup. And one may consider the situation described above a con. But the pro about the same situation, is that at ATL you don't have to go through security again which you may have to do at many airports if you are changing planes and your departing flight is in another terminal or concourse.

ATL amazes me. Its size to all of the movements that it handles is efficient. Both its internal size (terminals, concourses) for handling passengers, services and its external size (land area) for handling all of the flights are remarkably efficient.
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  #1469  
Old Posted Jan 26, 2010, 5:49 AM
smArTaLlone smArTaLlone is offline
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Hartsfield-Jackson chief stepping down

Atlanta airport General Manager Ben DeCosta has decided to step down as head of the world’s busiest airport when his contract ends June 30.
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  #1470  
Old Posted Jan 26, 2010, 6:48 PM
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Originally Posted by smArTaLlone View Post
Atlanta airport General Manager Ben DeCosta has decided to step down as head of the world’s busiest airport when his contract ends June 30.
I wish we could get Angela Gittens back, but it will never happen.
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  #1471  
Old Posted Jan 27, 2010, 2:32 PM
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Harry Cane Harry Cane is offline
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Yeah, she was good. I understand she's left Miami is doing something different.

Speaking of the airport, with the building of the new Jackson terminal, I wish they'd consider renaming the concourses and get rid of the T. Just start with A. I know it'd probably be a little chaotic at first, but it makes much more sense. Coming in internationally, I've had to explain where it is.

I'm really looking forward to the opening of the new terminal. The worst part of the airport experience has to be the recheck. It's sad that to so many foreign visitors that's the first impression they get of Atlanta and the U.S.
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  #1472  
Old Posted Jan 28, 2010, 4:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Harry Cane View Post
Yeah, she was good. I understand she's left Miami is doing something different.

Speaking of the airport, with the building of the new Jackson terminal, I wish they'd consider renaming the concourses and get rid of the T. Just start with A. I know it'd probably be a little chaotic at first, but it makes much more sense. Coming in internationally, I've had to explain where it is.

I'm really looking forward to the opening of the new terminal. The worst part of the airport experience has to be the recheck. It's sad that to so many foreign visitors that's the first impression they get of Atlanta and the U.S.
I couldn't agree more, Harry. The International arrival process is completely ridiculous as it is now.

Angela has gone on to bigger and better things. Her time in Miami was just as crazy as it was here, where corruption reigns sumpreme with the Metro Miami-Dade government.

She is now the Director of Airports Council International, and lives in Geneva. She has certainly paid her dues!
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  #1473  
Old Posted Jan 28, 2010, 6:20 PM
cybele cybele is offline
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She was a good one.
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  #1474  
Old Posted Jan 29, 2010, 12:01 AM
ATLonthebrain ATLonthebrain is offline
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I agree, and will pass along the kind and positive comments to her. I'm sure she will appreciate it. Hard to believe she was sent packing from ATL 11-years ago. Time really does fly! She's been Director General of Airports Council International World for almost 2-years now. And, she deserves every bit of success after the way things went both in ATL & MIA.
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  #1475  
Old Posted Jan 29, 2010, 2:57 PM
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atlantaguy atlantaguy is offline
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Originally Posted by ATLonthebrain View Post
I agree, and will pass along the kind and positive comments to her. I'm sure she will appreciate it. Hard to believe she was sent packing from ATL 11-years ago. Time really does fly! She's been Director General of Airports Council International World for almost 2-years now. And, she deserves every bit of success after the way things went both in ATL & MIA.
Please do, Bryant!

Great to see you posting here. Hope all is well in BOI.
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  #1476  
Old Posted Jan 29, 2010, 3:35 PM
ATLonthebrain ATLonthebrain is offline
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Yeah, as you can see, I don't post often. But, I've been visiting the site regularly for over 8-years. Can hardly believe it's been that long! I needed to write to her anyway, so I took the opportunity to do that last night and included mention of the above comments/compliments. She thanked me for sending along such nice sentiments about her tenure in ATL. Thought I'd pass that along to you guys. Have a great weekend!
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  #1477  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2010, 8:49 PM
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atlantaguy atlantaguy is offline
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Originally Posted by ATLonthebrain View Post
Yeah, as you can see, I don't post often. But, I've been visiting the site regularly for over 8-years. Can hardly believe it's been that long! I needed to write to her anyway, so I took the opportunity to do that last night and included mention of the above comments/compliments. She thanked me for sending along such nice sentiments about her tenure in ATL. Thought I'd pass that along to you guys. Have a great weekend!
So nice of you to do that! Thanks.
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  #1478  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2010, 7:09 PM
smArTaLlone smArTaLlone is offline
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Glass paneling and a first look at the new automated people mover extension are some of the highlights of the February 2010 construction update for the international terminal.

Video Link
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  #1479  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2010, 8:30 PM
dirtybird dirtybird is offline
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Holy crap, I didn't know construction was that far along. That's awesome!
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  #1480  
Old Posted Feb 15, 2010, 3:41 PM
cybele cybele is offline
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Well it looks like this could be a problem for the northeast part of the city.

Hartsfield Wants to Lower Flight Ceiling Around DeKalb-Peachtree
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