Originally Posted by UA vs NW
One of my colleagues told me that another reason is that ATL has the most efficient airport traffic control system supported by Georgia Institute of Technology. Is this true? Or are there any other reasons for ATL's performance?
As far as I know, Georgia Tech does not "support" Atlanta's air traffic control in any direct way. I spent the last five years at GT, and never did I hear about a link to Hartsfield-Jackson airport.
Originally Posted by EchoVictor
In Atlanta, unless you're in an executive jet there is no other airport within one hour of the city by car (except perhaps the tiny Macon airport, but that's a stretch).
Also, there are two commercial airports that are a little more than an hour away - Macon and Athens - but they both basically are commuter airports where most (all?) flights go to Atlanta. Chattanooga and Augusta are the next closest commercial airports, and they are about two hours away.
Not only is Atlanta the only airport in the close vicinity, it's the only big airport for quite some ways - the next closest hubs, I believe, are in Charlotte and Orlando, which are both very far away by car.
I've been flying through Atlanta for twenty years, and the traffic appears to have a grown a lot in the last few years.