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…”from a chamber leadership role” that is! OK, so I played with that one a little to get your attention. You see this week AJC.com had a piece about the fighting going on about a possible second commercial airport in Atlanta. You can read more about the airport here to get up to speed.
Would this be a good idea for Atlanta? I will leave it up to some Atlanta residents and blog readers to chime in if in fact the Paulding Airport could help the city, drive down airline prices and be a good alternative to the very busy ATL airport (that I do really like btw).
I spoke to an aviation expert and was told off the record that:
“The idea of a commercial airport in Paulding County is nothing but a bunch of [beeeeeep] dreamed up by some political hacks who have no clue what they are getting into. Really this is all about their wanting to feel important.”
Well, I guess that is one way of looking at this and I tend to agree with my expert. Having said that, it would be fun for an airline like Southwest to come in and mix it up a bit.
For me, I cannot get how spoiled I am to have so many airports that all compete and are serviced by Delta near my home. I mean, SBN less that 45 min. AZO 1hr-ish, FWA 1.5 hrs. LAN 2hr-ish. MDW 2hr-ish. ORD 2.5hrs. GRR 2 hr. LAN 2hr-ish. MKE 3hr-ish. IND 3hr-ish DTW 3hr-ish. That is a lot of choices vs. you in ATL with not that much to choose from.
So shout out – is Delta’s CEO not working for Atlanta’s best interest as suggested or is the idea of a second Atlanta commercial airport just a pipe dream? – René
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I think SW is already in ATL via merger.
As an Atlanta native, I love Heartsfield, but I think the city can stand to grow if another airport was added.
Paulding county is a joke. But since we are speaking of things that will never hapen, how’s this:
Chattanooga has an underutilized airport. Why not use some of those federal green energy dollars to build a high speed train that connects downtown Atlanta to the Chattanooga airport. I don’t mean one of those 100mph mile trains CA might be getting. I’m talking a serious German or Chinese maglev train that in top out over 200mph. It would follow i75 to chatty and could have a stop north of the East Cobb suburbs. That train ride would be nothing compared to how long it takes to drive up and down i75 during rush hour.
But that would be economically impossible. Kinda like a major airport in Pauling.
Well you have to wonder if it is just a bunch of BLEEP, why will Delta CEO be worried?
The thing is we don’t have an airport we have a Deltaport (Monopoly). We are the busiest airport but count how many airlines fly to ATL? All the other big cities are gaining flights from Emirates, Ethihad, Qatar, Turkish…ATL nada. Latin America so close but we don’t get LAN or Avianca.
Relations betwen Mr. Anderson, Mr. Miller and Mr. Reed are too cozy. Haha and next year they will not be able to brag about ATL being the busiest, PEK will be the busiest.
Yeah right, as if Atlanta needs *more* sprawl. That’s the only thing a new airport would serve – more freeways, more garbage development, more traffic, more nightmares. I’m amazed anyone can stand to live there as it us.
A couple thoughts…
1) No, Anderson doesn’t have Atlanta’s best interests at heart. He didn’t have Memphis’s best interests at heart either (there’s a lot of Delta hate here now). That’s not his job. He has Delta’s best interests at heart. But that’s exactly why he should have a voice at the chamber. Delta’s a major employer and Delta bring a lot of people to Atlanta for business and leisure. So Delta’s interests and Atlanta’s interests are aligned more often than they are at odds.
2) I don’t think a second airport makes sense in ATL. I agree with the commenter above about Chattanooga. If I lived in Buckhead or other parts north of Atlanta, I’d probably take the drive to Chattanooga over the drive to ATL. I lived in Fayette County for a while so ATL was super convenient. But when I lived just north of Orlando for a few years, I’d just as soon head to DAB as MCO.
Not to be too negative, but don’t you violate the whole “off the record” thing by posting your expert’s comment on a public blog?
Since I only transit ATL and don’t live there, a new airport wouldn’t be much of a big deal for me.
@Nick – I cleared it with the source 😉
Did you blocked my previous post?
@Nic – don’t think so. Your comment is up. I will check spam filter for more.
What Atlanta needs is more competition, not a hub-locked monopoly. Don’t get me wrong, I love Delta, and am a loyal DL flier (what choice do I have, really?). But prices out of ATL are often out of line with other similar routes from other airports. Would a second airpot change that? Not if Delta owned it too.
How could such an aiport compete with ATL anyway? One of the great things about the ATL airport has been the amazing scalability of the original design. Since it was built there have been two new concourses and a complete new international terminal added, as well as additional runway and taxi capacity. And there’s room for more. Plus it’s at the intersection of the three major interstates, and on the (marginally useful) mass transit line. A remote airport like Paulding would start small and stay small, because it could never have this “perfect storm” of key attributes like ATL.
I’m not an Atlanta native, but I live here. Hartsfield is fine. For the amount of traffic the airport gets, I think it is handled pretty well. Security lines move quickly, the airport is very user-friendly (I just wish it was kept cleaner, especially the bathrooms. UGH!!), and I can’t remember the last time I was on a flight that was held up for either arrival or departure (five runways).
No one in Paulding County wants the new airport, and it really isn’t needed. It would be just another gigantic waste of tax dollars.
The more sensible approach to a 2nd airport for ATL/North GA would be to close Dobbins ARB and use the land and existing runways for an airport in Marietta–and preserving all necessary facilities for Lockheed.
Then finally get Cobb County to allow a new MARTA line from Lindbergh or Arts Center up the I75-Cobb Parkway corridor with stops at or within a short walking distance to the new Braves’ stadium, Cumberland Mall, Dobbins, Marietta Town Center, and end it with a commuter-oriented station right off I75 or I575 like North Springs does off 400.
The only benefit about having an airport in Paulding County is that it will be a lot closer to the new Braves Stadium (both on the NW side of town).
I don’t really think it will happen as there’s so much existing infrastructure to get to ATL. Given how difficult it’s been to get MARTA into/through Cobb County (which is between Paulding County and Atlanta, Cobb County has their own bus transit system but no trains), i think it would be very difficult to get infrastructure/transit to a Paulding County Airport from Atlanta, which (I think) would be needed.
I like the Chattanooga idea.
Actually upgrading Cobb County airport to take some commercial traffic would be a huge reliever for ATL – A much closer drive for a majority of the northwest Atlanta fliers.
@Delta Points – glad to hear he gave you the ok 🙂
@Nick – or she
Primary reason why Paulding is a consideration comes from alot of DL employees live in the area. Cobb and Paulding don’t want public transportation due to the perceived theory that it brings crime. ATL has a “low” cost airline (southwest) and cost haven’t been lowered. When airtran was its own airline, it was competition. Love DL but when given a cost (out of DC) to come home to Atl, I rarely use Airtran (southwest) unless a great deal.
@autolycus…we don’t want that. having a commercial airport next to an air force base is a terrible idea. Guess who will always have the priority for air space. and it’s just not inconvenient to access ATL or FTY from Cobb.
@Stacy Jordan is exactly right we don’t want it in Cobb. Especially now that “people” will be wanting to come to Cobb more frequently for Braves games. I’m disappointed the rail system is so emaciated here but I concede to why it will not get much more robust.
the best idea in recent memory for commercial expansion was at LZU in Gwinnett. People in Cumming, Buford and beyond clamor for more convenient airport access. Some drive as far as Rene has 4-6 airport options ~1hr before they ever reach ATL. And that’s been the fastest growing county for quite a while. Where else are they going to go GSP? Guess they could go to Athens but they won’t.
Regardless of what happens with airports in atlanta unless Delta is forced to give up more gates in ATL nothing is really going to change for most people in regard to DL prices. DL isn’t going to support another airport here they said so back then.
Oh and @stacy J don’t forget Silver Airways….Anyone flown them yet?