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Gateway Atlanta Builds On Cooperation
of Air Cargo News

Atlanta, GA - 6/21/2005 - It has been apparent for some time now that Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport is one of the great airport operations. HJIA was named after two former mayors of the city of Atlanta, and is known to the world simply as ATL.

You could say it’s an airport that knows its business. I prefer to wax poetic: “Atlanta is what I like about the South.”

The airport is full of a sense of energetic expansion. Runway additions are seemingly etched into the earth overnight, and passenger terminals, air cargo sheds and a new tower has arisen out of the electric energy of the place.

As 2005 awakes us to the first half decade of a new century, HJIA is looking better everyday.
For many years ATL has been ranked at the very top in terms of passenger and cargo traffic, while elsewhere the concern has been with building and hoping, with promises that are not always delivered.

How good is ATL?

Three years ago Miami International stole away Angela Gittens, General Manager of ATL, just to see if the great lady could work her magic on their South Florida facility. Ms. Gittens has since departed MIA for other pursuits, but MIA’s interest in her does not go unnoticed. Passenger projections from HJIA’s Master Plan indicate passenger volume will reach 115 million by 2015. Cargo volume last year topped over a million tons and is still growing in record numbers.

It should be pointed out that HJIA was the only “Top 10 U.S. Airport” to experience passenger growth in 2002, despite the downfall in passenger traffic after 9/11.

In fact, for the past five years HJIA has been the world’s busiest passenger airport, with over 10 million passengers more than its closest rival, Chicago O’Hare.

HJIA is currently underway with its 10-year expansion program known as The Hartsfield Development Program (HDP). Atlanta’s residential growth spurt, projected increase in vehicle traffic and escalating passenger traffic to the airport are all key factors to the success of HDP.
In fact, while gateway managers at other world facilities are contemplating a means of survival as airlines around them flounder, HJIA is still operating with a palpable optimism.

Atlanta is the main hub for both AirTran and Delta. Recent development is boding well for both carriers.

Delta has apparently rewritten the playbook for legacy airlines with its bold costing initiative, and AirTran has been a solid growth leader in the “no frills” airline business for some time now.
It’s worth recalling that JetBlue, a favorite start-up low cost airline, came to Atlanta and was soundly pushed out of the market by the strength and market coverage of the aforementioned “local carriers.”

But perhaps the factor most influential to the ongoing success of HJIA is its location in the southeastern United States, home to the fourth largest economy in the world. Atlanta is situated securely as the hub of that economic activity.
“We have fourteen of the Fortune 500 companies located right here in Atlanta,” Aviation Development Manager H. Warren Jones assures.
“That’s right,” chimes Bob Pertierra, Vice President of Logistics Industry Development for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

“We’re talking about one of the best logistics locations. Atlanta is one of only five U.S. cities with service to three interstate highways; we are able to reach more than 80% of the country’s markets within two delivery days.

“Rail service ranks Georgia 6th in inter-modal O&D traffic with more than 4,700 miles in the rail system. In terms of corporate logistics, Atlanta ranks 5th in the U.S., housing the headquarters of Delta, UPS, Manhattan Associates, Coca Cola, Georgia Pacific, Newell Rubbermaid, Scientific Atlanta and many others.”

We are standing in an enclosed glass atrium, circular in shape, above Centennial Olympic Park. Metro Atlanta COC headquarters is a quick ride downtown.

A few years ago this place was the fulcrum of world attention when the Summer Games found its home here.

Shortly after the athletes left town, the city fathers got busy keeping the focus and attention on Atlanta by centering COC activities an impressive multi-storied structure.

Off in the distance familiar logo signs adorn the atmosphere like ornaments on a Christmas tree. CNN is even decorated here, with its worldwide broadcast center just moments away.

Warren Jones from HJIA and Bob Pertierra are both involved in an interesting and wide-ranging experiment.

Can the airport and locally-organized business base work together to leverage their hopes, dreams and assets to spread the story of Atlanta’s position as a world class city, willing to move mountains to make things happen? Will the cargo community listen?

Last July, an air cargo group met with other local business experts to form the Atlanta Logistics Center.
That led to months of study and a joint venture series of presentations in various destinations in China and around the world.

“Our first dual activity was at TIACA Bilbao last year. We both were greatly encouraged,” Bob Pertierra says, smiling at Warren Jones.

“The idea is to get the word out that Georgia exports more than $18 billion in goods annually and has consular corps and trade offices from over 55 countries. Almost 20% of the expansion here during the last decade has been the result of relocation to Atlanta from other countries.”
“You know,” follows Warren, the airport guy getting in his licks, “only Atlanta ORD and LAX are top ten passenger and cargo airports.”

“With varied components and wide-ranging scope, development here can be likened to a far-reaching, multi-branched oak tree.”

While the construction of a fifth runway at HJIA 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, expansion to the new international terminal, a new cargo complex and even a new air traffic control tower.
The 10/28 Structure, or Fifth Runway, has several major components, including a pair of land acquisitions, 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.

Once completed, HJIA’s Fifth Runway will actually cross a main arterial highway, with aircraft departing and landing above an active part of the interstate.

HJIA 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.

HJIA 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 conducting 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, HJIA boasts several specialized handling facilities: the Hartsfield Atlanta Perishables Complex and the Hartsfield Atlanta Equine Complex.

At the Perishables Complex any and all perishables, including flowers, seafood, 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 reception, 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 to handle, inspect and process animals, be it a single thoroughbred or a full charter of livestock. The 78-stall facility features on-site USDA Veterinarian Services, USDA regulated disinfection of all stables and aircraft, a weather-proof loading area, holding pens for examination and bathing, etched floors to prevent slippage, imported rubber matting and individual drainage for each stall and an automated insect control system that routinely emits a mist into each stall.

Meanwhile, back inside the glass-enclosed sky cabin in downtown Atlanta, Messer, Jones and Pertierra are outlining their goals for 2005.
“We need to continue development of our markets in Asia and Latin America as well,” Warren Jones says.

We are off to a good start. Everyone feels good about the work we are doing.”