Originally Posted by HDQDD

I also think they got really lucky with the timing of ATL. Had it been earlier, it's likely they wouldn't have gone with 4 parallel runways (did it always have 4?) and now a 5th. Back then, many airports had crosswind runways (i.e. ORD), but with the advent of the jet age, planes became a lot more crosswind tolerant. There are still many major airports in the US that are constrained due to crossing crosswind runways. SFO, LGA, BOS, DCA, etc.