City of Atlanta to Fund $33 Million Bill for New Delta Sky Club
Joe Cortez April 21, 2021
Delta Air Lines flyers will get a brand-new Sky Club location at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, paid for by city taxpayers. The city council approved a resolution to reimburse the airline for $33.1 million in construction costs, at a time when the airline is not entirely popular with politicians.
Delta Air Lines flyers traveling through Atlanta will get a new Sky Club location, courtesy of the city’s tax base. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the Atlanta City Council approved a plan to reimburse the airline for the new lounge at the cost of $33.1 million.
New Concourse D Sky Club Features 20,000 Square Feet of Space, Replacing Two Older Lounges
The brand-new space will be located in Concourse D of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). It will replace two older lounges in the concourse, which will be returned to the airport to be repurposed.
Under the plan, the city will reimburse Delta for $33.1 million of construction expenses, which will include adding a third floor to the concourse. While the city will pay for materials and labor, Delta will be responsible for designing the space and financing the interior finishing. Once the lounge is complete, Delta will lease the space from the airport.
Once it is open to the public, it will become one of six Sky Club lounges available at Delta’s home town airport. Access to the space is available to certain international flyers, SkyMiles Diamond Medallion elite flyers, Sky Club members and those who have access through credit cards.
Construction Plans Come as Delta Falls Out of Favor With Politicians
The city-approved plan comes as Delta has widely fallen out of favor with Georgia’s Republican-controlled state government. After airline chief executive Ed Bastian changed direction on the state’s controversial Senate Bill 202, members of Georgia’s House of Representatives voted to strip Delta of a jet fuel tax credit. It failed to move forward, as the state Senate adjourned before it could be considered.
According to the Journal-Constitution, the new lounge was part of a 20-year lease between the city and Delta made in 2016 – well before the voting bill was signed into law. Because it was a pre-approved construction project, no other government votes will be required.
Ridiculous. Taxpayers on the hook paying for a lounge only the 1% can use. What next, taxpayer money pays to build an exclusive golf club, one of those with the unwritten rule "we only accept Whites and non-Jewish"?
The old boy network of the Old South is still playing ball, I see, Miss Scarlet and Master Rhett. Systemic fascism, but do I mean something else? Nothing like one dirty hand licking another. I’ll stay in CO/UA country, thank you very little.
this is a pretty typical commercial real estate transaction. It's called build-to-suit. The city is adding leasable squarefeet to the airport. Don't see the big deal? $33MM seems cheap for an airport construction project that probably requires Davis-Bacon etc. Garbage article.
Atlanta government is corrupt. There is nothing else to say.
This explains why Delta has gone Woke...they are sucking up to local politicians. It's too bad. It was a great airline!