Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport

[Tuckerman]

Originally Posted by SteveD

I haven't traveled Internationally in about 5 or 6 years but I just got back from Europe and came into an E Gate. I can't believe after all these years they haven't figured out a way to eliminate that nearly 1 mile walk. I wear an Apple watch and from the time I got off the jet at E to walking out to meet my ride was 0.91 miles.

It is a long ways, but there are motorized carts readily available to drive you at least half of the way and beyond that point there are moving walkways. Made this trip many times.

[testarossa50]

Originally Posted by Tuckerman

It is a long ways, but there are motorized carts readily available to drive you at least half of the way and beyond that point there are moving walkways. Made this trip many times.

Dude, the walk is a disgrace. There aren't enough motorized carts for the whole plane, and there's a ton of walking afterwards even with the moving sidewalks.

I don't know why Delta doesn't make more of a fuss about it. If you fly any other metal, you're likely to wind up in F with a short walk. On Delta, chances are you're headed to E and huffing it up to a mile.

[dirtybird]

Originally Posted by SteveD

...I can't believe after all these years they haven't figured out a way to eliminate that nearly 1 mile walk.

And afterwards when you need to get to domestic parking, you have to wait to take a shuttle

[Tuckerman]

Originally Posted by testarossa50

Dude, the walk is a disgrace. There aren't enough motorized carts for the whole plane, and there's a ton of walking afterwards even with the moving sidewalks.

I don't know why Delta doesn't make more of a fuss about it. If you fly any other metal, you're likely to wind up in F with a short walk. On Delta, chances are you're headed to E and huffing it up to a mile.

I have traveled to Europe often and often land at E. In our experience there was always a cart available. In any case, after a 10 hour plane ride it is nice to walk! Compared to CDG or the new Istanbul airport the ATL is very compact and easy to maneuver. In any case air travel has generally become crowded, uncomfortable, and time consuming arriving and departing - no better or worse than being stuck on I-85 or 285 IMO. Modern life - just relax.

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by Tuckerman

I have traveled to Europe often and often land at E. In our experience there was always a cart available. In any case, after a 10 hour plane ride it is nice to walk! Compared to CDG or the new Istanbul airport the ATL is very compact and easy to maneuver. In any case air travel has generally become crowded, uncomfortable, and time consuming arriving and departing - no better or worse than being stuck on I-85 or 285 IMO. Modern life - just relax.

It's not a problem for us. We walk in our neighborhood 3 to 5 miles every day. I was just surprised it was nearly a mile, and that some other solution hadn't been developed. As to these carts, we wouldn't have used one, but I didn't see a single one.

[testarossa50]

Originally Posted by Tuckerman

I have traveled to Europe often and often land at E. In our experience there was always a cart available. In any case, after a 10 hour plane ride it is nice to walk! Compared to CDG or the new Istanbul airport the ATL is very compact and easy to maneuver. In any case air travel has generally become crowded, uncomfortable, and time consuming arriving and departing - no better or worse than being stuck on I-85 or 285 IMO. Modern life - just relax.

I personally don’t mind the walk either, it just is what it is, and the convenience of flying nonstop ridiculously outweighs any walk at the airport.

But good design, it is not.

[Tuckerman]

Originally Posted by SteveD

It's not a problem for us. We walk in our neighborhood 3 to 5 miles every day. I was just surprised it was nearly a mile, and that some other solution hadn't been developed. As to these carts, we wouldn't have used one, but I didn't see a single one.

Well at 83 and 80 respectively we use the cart when available. Of course I agree that airports are not a walk in the park or the neighborhood. One thing we have learned is to carry as little as possible and just set aside a lot of time. As a Delta million+ miler I have experienced almost every flying possibility. At earlier times it was a pleasure to fly and it was part of the experience. Now one has to compensate for all the restrictions and difficulties in getting to a destination. Still it is amazing that the major airlines manage this chaos on a daily basis and provide a safe traveling experience.

[Jetlanta]

I know people don't remember this, but Delta was in deep financial distress when F was being planned, which would eventually lead to Chapter 11. The original project was value-engineered to reduce it by about half a billion dollars. The vast majority of that came out of the train connector between E and F. Keep in mind that because this is a CBP sterile corridor, it needed to be an entirely separate train. So, to get the rest of F built, the tradeoff was nixing the train. The idea was that people ending their journey at ATL had little choice of airports, so they would have to deal with it. Also, they try to allocate flights with the highest % of Atlanta terminating passengers at F, so they don't have to walk so far. This is why most airlines not affiliated with Delta use F. If they had it to do over, I think they'd figure out something different. But back then, Delta effectively financed the project, and they didn't have the money to do it right.

[SteveD]

Originally Posted by Jetlanta

I know people don't remember this, but Delta was in deep financial distress when F was being planned, which would eventually lead to Chapter 11. The original project was value-engineered to reduce it by about half a billion dollars. The vast majority of that came out of the train connector between E and F. Keep in mind that because this is a CBP sterile corridor, it needed to be an entirely separate train. So, to get the rest of F built, the tradeoff was nixing the train. The idea was that people ending their journey at ATL had little choice of airports, so they would have to deal with it. Also, they try to allocate flights with the highest % of Atlanta terminating passengers at F, so they don't have to walk so far. This is why most airlines not affiliated with Delta use F. If they had it to do over, I think they'd figure out something different. But back then, Delta effectively financed the project, and they didn't have the money to do it right.

This was Munich - ATL. My wild ass guess was about 50% of the jet had Atlanta as the final destination. (edited to add): BTW thank you for the very informational background. I had no idea. And it makes sense that cost cutting led to that disgraceful long walk.

[shivtim]

Oddly, my last few domestic flights have flown out of F. I know it's not strictly a domestic terminal, but it was weird to fly to Cincinnati from an F gate. Meanwhile my last international flight was out of E.

[cabasse]

edit; nm, the premise of my question was stupid - i should know better i've done this myself (you have to go through customs at the international terminal, duh)

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by cabasse

edit; nm, the premise of my question was stupid - i should know better i've done this myself (you have to go through customs at the international terminal, duh)

Yes, it’s required. You had go through customs at entire concourse F. You have reclaim your bag and if you are connections flight. You must clear customs and go left to recheck your bag and then you go through TSA checkpoint again. If you are on next domestic flights. Go downstairs to plane train to the concourse A, B, C, D or E.

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

When I flew I saw that this appears to be under construction in the old West parking lot. https://www.nssjv.com/the-project

The evolution of this project from something sort of visually interesting to this bland box is quite sad. Busiest airport in the world and can't manage any kind of interesting design.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

When I flew I saw that this appears to be under construction in the old West parking lot. https://www.nssjv.com/the-project

The evolution of this project from something sort of visually interesting to this bland box is quite sad. Busiest airport in the world and can't manage any kind of interesting design.

Wow! No wonder what you saw! I didn’t even know that!

What is the plan for next new construction projects at ATL airport? New concourse G or expansion the F concourse. Who knows!