I recently departed -- about 21:00 -- from the end of Delta's Concourse D gates (26 June) and was absolutely shocked by the filth and run-down gates. Delta considers itself the "premier airline" of the United States, but it's maintaining its concourses like this at its "hometown hub" -- really?
Here's what I saw:
- A row of collapsed seats (i.e. one side was on the ground)
- Ripped and torn seats at almost every gate
- Plugs with "doesn't work" and "works" hand-written in black marker
- Fast food waste everywhere (cups, bags, trash, etc.)
- Crumbs and liquid mess everywhere
- A new-ish seat with yellow tape awkwardly covering it and the words "broke seat" in hand-written marker
This seems to be a combination of Delta poorly maintaining their gates and ATL doing a horrific job of keeping their airport clean.
ATL brags that it's "the world's busiest airport" and Delta brands itself as the premier legacy carrier. My recent experience on Delta's ATL concourse D, however, was, worse than any major bus station in a developing country.
I'm frankly embarrassed for Delta and, as an American, embarrassed that visitors from abroad to our "busiest airport" have to encounter these conditions.
Atlanta and Delta should both be ashamed.