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A R C H I V E S

P R O F I L E

     The story could only make the seasoned airport operator smile.
     Air Tran Airways, a subsidiary of Air Tran Holdings, Inc., reported its highest April traffic in the company’s history.
     Air Tran Airways’ traffic, measured by revenue passenger miles (ROMs), increased by 22.6 percent for the month of April 2003 versus the prior year on 18.3 percent more capacity, measured by available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a load factor of 73.0 percent, compared to 70.5 percent for April 2002. The airline enplaned a record 964,341 passenger in the month of April 2003, a 15.0 percent increase.
     Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport is building. Maybe the same thing is true and happening right now at the airport near you. But if those AirTran numbers are any indication, the airline business, on the mat for the better part of recent memory is finally starting to show a pulse. It is a “new normal” pulse, heard beating during the long tailspin which has enveloped the industry since September 11, 2001.
     One month is not history, but Atlanta is like no other place.
     Delta Airlines, which by any measure is the richest of the “big and beleaguered” U.S. carriers right now, calls Atlanta home and heaven. With Georgia on its mind, it has people working around the clock to reverse the big carrier’s current fortunes.
     Delta does not like losses. In fact the word to describe this company is ‘apoplectic’ with the kind of red ink it has generated.
     Into the black, from out of the blue, Air Tran may not be every airline, but for crying out loud, how far back would you like to see an airline recover, from the trials and tragedy and struggle into the air of the post 9/11 commercial aviation business?
     Air Tran has turned itself into a success.
     Maybe the signal is good for everybody.
     At HAIA, the long corridors from the airplanes and the shuttle trains are lined with works of art. You ride the moving walkways and in the middle there is the most comprehensive stone and marble sculpture exhibit from Africa.
     You pause to catch your breath, and there is a see through glass case with multi-media art tracing 20th Century evolution by the decades, including 50’s era radios waffle irons and television sets.
     In one area, you look through a glass wall and imagine being in a typical living room, where Lucy and Ricky might be jabbering with Fred and Ethel.
     In another display, a squad of school kids has put paint to paper in an impression of world brotherhood.
     Most always, the rush through any airport elicits only exasperation.
     HAIA does a lot of business called “hubbing,” which in bad weather, when flights get delayed, can also be defined as a dead heat on a merry go round.
     Surprise time to kill at HAIA can be relaxing, enlightening and even uplifting.
     Time for some of those biscuits and cream gravy too, beneath a vaulted ceiling with milk glass skylight over a rotunda area with open hallways arranged all around.
     People in airport offices move about on levels above, and look at people arriving, departing and gathering below.
     In any transportation enterprise, rotundas have always been the best.
     The great train stations of the last century and the truly great airport buildings have rotundas.
     Rotundas are ingrained in the American experience, because of the Capital Building in Washington D.C.
     Rotundas in airports allow for sharing of the experience of life while offering a genuine sense of place.
     You simply cannot or should not run through a rotunda.
     In Washington, the business of government is conducted on both sides of the middle, but people are just people in the rotunda.
     At Hartsfield, the rotunda is magical with all the bells and whistles, usual suspects and one surprise.
     A great big preserved real dinosaur artifact is situate atop a marble platform.
     “Somebody broke off the tail,” says Robert Kennedy looking up at the ancient relic somewhat bemused.
     You cannot think about a missing dinosaur tail without wondering, “did this poor animal miss a flight” and “what the hell did the thief do with the filched portion of the artifact?”
     Robert Kennedy is director of Marketing, Public Relations and Intergovernmental Affairs for Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.
     Robert is responsible for the development of new products and services, new passenger and air cargo routes, promotions, governmental relations, and Airport communications.
     Actually when he took up his most recent post in 2002, the event marked his happy return to HAIA.
     Prior to his return to Hartsfield, Mr. Kennedy served as President of Kennedy & Associates - Aviation and Air Cargo Consulting, LLC, based in Atlanta, Georgia.
     He founded Kennedy & Associates to provide airports, air carriers and aviation-related industries with in-depth analysis and planning for route development, cargo master planning and air service development, including bilateral air service agreements.
     The first time around at HAIA, Mr. Kennedy was the route development manager. In that capacity he launched global marketing programs that expanded industry and corporate awareness of the capabilities of the airport.
     He was also involved in numerous discussions and negotiations with most of the worlds major air carriers.
     That Robert left one adventure at the airport and was enticed back, can be viewed as an indication that at Hartsfield, top management is paying attention.
     Robert Kennedy is no slouch and definitely not a career pencil pusher.
     The guy is hot, with new and different ideas and vision for 21st Century airports.
     Robert Kennedy is one executive born to fly, with a deep-dish air cargo background and a zest for life and discovery.
     In a very short timeframe he imagined the great Georgia aerial gateway as a must to fly to address, and then he successfully developed several new airline services to Atlanta, including the first direct all-cargo service to Southeast Asia, the Netherlands, and Latin America.
     In addition, Mr. Kennedy has successfully worked with federal agencies to acquire a United States Fish and Wildlife port designation, the approval of cold treatment for fruits and vegetables for Atlanta and a United States Department of Agriculture-Veterinary Service equine importation designation.
     “The HAIA development program is a ten-year plan meant to meet and exceed growth expectation.”
     Not since the 1950’s has Atlanta’s population exploded like it did during the one-year period from April 2001 to April 2002, according to data released by the Atlanta Regional Commission last year.
     While metro Atlanta’s 10-county region encompassed some 3.6 million residents throughout Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties, more than 8,900 people moved within the city limits of Atlanta.
     “We must be prepared to handle the growth that is projected in terms of passengers and (flight) operations,” explained Dan Molloy, HAIA’s assistant general manager for planning, development and environment.
     Passenger projections from Hartsfield’s Master Plan, which was completed in 1999, indicate passenger volume will reach 115 million by 2015.
     Hartsfield, it should be pointed out, was the only “Top 10” U.S. airport to experience passenger growth in 2002 despite a downturn in passenger traffic experienced since September 11th. Industry experts predict a strong return to air travel and new demand.
     In fact, Hartsfield for the fourth consecutive year is the world’s busiest passenger airport, more than 10 million passengers ahead of its closest rival, Chicago O’Hare.
     The city’s residential growth spurt, projected vehicle traffic growth and the anticipated return of passenger traffic to the airport are all key reasons Hartsfield continues with its 10-year expansion program known as The Hartsfield Development Program (HDP).
     In fact, while gateway managers at other world facilities are contemplating survival there still exists a palpable sense of optimism at HAIA amongst the airport and carriers alike, that very soon now the uptick as noted in those aforementioned AirTran figures , will once again return to the entire airline industry.
     With its varied components and wide-ranging scope, the HDP can be likened to a far-reaching, multi-branched oak tree.
     While the program will deliver enhancements to the airport, it marks a new level of construction development complexity for Hartsfield.
     Each of the major program elements encompasses a myriad of massive projects.
     On the fifth runway project alone, there are approximately 170 sub-projects planned for execution.
     “Hartsfield has not had a major construction project other than the addition of the airport Atrium and construction of Concourse E, in nearly 25 years.” According to Molloy, the airport has existed in its current configuration since 1980.
     While the construction of a fifth runway at Hartsfield is one of the most talked about elements of the program, the multi-faceted, multi-billion dollar program also includes the construction of a consolidated rental car complex, improvements to the central passenger terminal complex and an expansion to the new international terminal.
     The 10/28 Structure, or Fifth Runway, program has several major components including two land acquisition phases, relocation of natural gas mains and power lines, various road relocation projects, runway and taxiway paving and lighting projects, runway construction and relocation of a Federal Aviation Administration control tower.
     Unexpected conditions have presented unique issues on the massive project. When work began on the runway trunk drainage project in April of 2001, estimates indicated that solid rock capable of supporting the box culvert and the embankment for the runway should be located between 15 to 3 0 feet below ground.
     However it was determined that several sections of the work area contained weathered rock, a mixture of rock and sand and not suitable as a foundation.
     This project challenge required contractors to drill two to three times deeper than originally estimated to find suitable foundation conditions to install needed caissons.
     Weather is yet another factor adding to the complex nature of program construction. Last year, several late summer rain storms returned the region’s water tables to near normal levels and impacted construction activity on the 5th runway project. Most importantly the heavy rains flooded equipment on the project work site.
     When completed, HAIA’s fifth runway will actually cross a main arterial highway with aircraft taking off and landing above an active part of the interstate.
     We wonder, if motorists might be a bit distracted, when an A380 freighter lands above a family out for an adventure in their Hummer.
     Robert Kennedy laughs. He has thought of this situation, as did the airport planners.
     There will be a roadway tunnel or something, we imagine. But for the curious and adventuresome there will also be an interaction from the air quite unlike any other available in the world
     “The intersection of runway and highway will be visually separated, although upon approach, from a safe distance, the action will be viewable from your car.”
     The animation and sense of excitement as Malloy and Kennedy speak is refreshing.
     Here are not only doers, but also dreamers who clearly are out to create the greatest airport in the world, and they are proud to tell you all about it.
     To meet the demand of international travelers, HAIA has included blueprints for a new international terminal in its $5.4 billion expansion program.
     The new East International Terminal (EIT) will allow international customers to avoid the airport’s current baggage re-check locations. “EIT adds a new front door on the east side for our international passengers. They will not have to worry about re-checking their luggage after going through Customs,” said Molloy.
     Hartsfield will need to construct a new air traffic control tower to provide a clear line of sight to the new fifth runway.
     HAIA’s existing tower will be removed and the area it is vacating will be used in the expansion of the international concourse.
     We wonder what the new tower will appear as, but whatever the plan is, right now is a closely held secret.
     Even as the master planners of Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport devised one of the world’s largest passenger terminals, they provided flexibility for the movement of cargo in the design, as well.
     Hartsfield’s North and South Cargo Complexes maintain independent refueling and support systems, which allow quick turnaround for airport cargo operators.
     Atlanta is closer to Chicago than New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore. More than 200 million people, 80% of U.S. consumers, are within two hours’ flight time from Hartsfield, or one day’s trucking by highway.
     Hartsfield maintains more than 1.2 million square feet of cargo handling space in the North, South and Midfield Cargo Complexes. Each complex offers excellent dockside access to interstate highways 75, 85, 285 and 20.
     Hartsfield is the only airport in the Southeast to be approved by the USDA to apply cold treatment, an environmentally safe alternative to methyl bromide.
     Hartsfield’s Perishables Complex features on-site distribution and transport capabilities, USDA inspection services and a USDA approved fumigation chamber.
     Adjoining the airport is the 250-acre (100 hectare) Georgia Foreign Trade Zone, FTZ # 26, which facilitates trade and increases the global competitiveness of companies doing business in Georgia by reducing operating costs associated with international trade.
     Hartsfield is designated as a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Port of Entry.
     Georgia’s 1,244 miles of interstate highways have placed Atlanta and Hartsfield among the nation’s major trucking hubs. More than 100 motor carriers provide expedited ground transportation for air cargo shipments.
     Hartsfield’s cargo services feature operations by more than 100 licensed customs brokers and 200 domestic and international freight forwarders.
     Beyond conventional cargo facilities, Hartsfield boasts several specialized handling facilities: the Hartsfield Atlanta Perishables Complex and the Hartsfield Atlanta Equine complex.
     At the Perishables Complex, any perishables, from flowers to seafood to fresh fruits and vegetables, can be distributed through Hartsfield.
     The 42,000 square foot (3,780 square meter) perishables complex has four massive cooling facilities featuring a full range of temperatures: -5 degrees F (- 20 Degrees C), 34 degrees F (1 degree C), 42 degrees F (5.6 degrees C), and 55 degrees F (12.7 degrees C).
     Operations at the Perishables Complex include receiving, storage, transportation and delivery; repacking and cooperage; ice-making and supply; presentation for Federal Inspection Services; fumigation and plant washing; packing, crating and general cargo handling; incineration and/or destruction of USDA rejected shipments; and aircraft handling.
     Next door to the Perishables Center is the 21,000 square foot (1,890 square meters) Hartsfield Atlanta Equine Complex designed for the handling, inspection and processing of animals, from a single thoroughbred to a full charter of livestock. The 78-stall facility features: on-site USDA Veterinarian Services inspection; 24-hour on-call veterinary service; disinfection and cleaning of stables and aircraft in accordance with USDA regulations; weather-protected loading/unloading area; holding, examination and bathing pens; etched floors to prevent slippage; imported rubber matting in each stall; individual drainage for each stall; and an automatic piped-mist insect control system in each stall.