CJKatl

5:00 pm, but not every day. I just threw that out as a sample of back-ups because someone at baggage claim told me it is their busiest flight in baggage claim. I've really never seen anything like it. The ground staff does not let you near the carousels. Instead, they offload the luggage and just put it in every available space around the carousels. You have to walk around to find your bags, which may not be near each other if you have more than one. My bag was the very last off a Qatar flight, so I got to see the entire process. Kudos to the ground staff for making it work. When they started taking the bags off the belt I got a little perturbed, but when you see the number of bags and passengers, you respect it as a well choreographed ballet.

I've seen long back-ups when multiple DL/KLM/AF flights arrive at the same time, when the KE A380 arrived. (I don't think they use the plane in ATL anymore) And if an AMS or CDG flight runs late and bumps into another international arrival, things can get backed up pretty fast. GE gets you past the immigration line, but you are still stuck waiting for baggage. Again, carry-on only, which is the only way you are going to F when you land in E with a connecting flight anyway, gets you around baggage claim, but if you are not leaving the airport, you may find yourself in the security line with all those other people, no PC and wishing you had stayed in E.

BTW, I have never noticed Clear in E or F, but haven't looked, either. Both an AJC.com article and this Clear site indicate the only checkpoint is in the South (domestic) Terminal.