Atlanta Hartsfield questions -- gate location and conection question
 

I am traveling MSN to ATL to ELP. I will have a 40 minute connection. My questions:

1. Does anyone know what gates/concourses flights from Madison, WI (MSN) to ATL generally arrive, or where flights from ATL to El Paso generally depart from?
2. Is there a tool anywhere that provides gate information such as what I'm asking in my first question? I see the ATL airport maps, but having several concourses say Delta arrivals isn't much help.

Thank you.

All of this information is readily found at delta.com

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

Link to ATL flights departures and arrivals information

Link to ATL maps

Link to Delta flight and flight status tool

Gates change and there are no guarantees, but you can get a general idea of the likely gates by checking flight status on the DL website for several days in advance of your trip. Close to or after the flight times gate assignments are indicated. You can also check this on external websites such as flightaware.com.

Welcome to Flyertalk @shrinkydink.

Please follow the redirect to the DL forum.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

40 minutes is plenty of time for typical travelers regardless of where your MSN flight arrives or where your ELP flight departs.

You really can't tell in advance where you'll be with any degree of certainty. You can look at flights a few days before but that's only going to give you an idea of what's likely. The best thing to do is get the app. When you land at ATL you can peek at it and before you even get to the gate you'll see the real gate info for both flights (plus you'll get push notifications if your gate assignment changes).

Are you going to need assistance to get from gate to gate? Will you have anything other than normal carry-on luggage?

I am a HUGE fan of Flightaware. many times it updates new gates before the Delta app or even the gate house screen. And it has a really cool "where's my plane now" feature so you can see if your incoming plane is late or not. I use this to tell when to leave the skyclub and head to the gate.

Typically DL schedules ATL flights based on this. (Not Always the case!)
T - O&D destinations such as DFW/DCA/LGA and some other overflow ops.
A - 757s/737s/320s/some MDs
B - 737s/320s/MDs
C - 717/ CRJs
D - CRJs/overflow DL ops typically use the low D Gates
E/F - INTL/ Overflow from other DL ops.

All, including inbound plane for your flight can be found on DL app or delta.com. I find the app updates quicker then gate monitors.

If Delta is telling you 'South Terminal', it's how the system says that a gate is currently not assigned. (It refers to the location of ATL landside check-in areas and can effectively be ignored by connecting passengers)

You also don't have to worry about Concourses E or F- they're for international flights and the occasional domestic widebody plane.

While ATL is probably the best laid out and easiest to navigate of the mega-sized airports, 40 minutes is a connection where you want to walk briskly to your next gate and only stop for restrooms and/or snacks after finding your next gate and seeing where they are in the boarding process.

This is not really true. International traffic is the primary purpose for E and F, but there are certainly narrowbody domestic departures from both of these concourses every day.

Agreed that ATL is laid out well. Also, when you are connecting Terminal will not matter, only Concourse.

The Concourses are arranged almost alphabetically, with T (for Terminal) being first. They concourse go T-A-B-C-D-E-F. The Gates within each of the Concourses T-A-B-C-D are each straight lines, connected in the middle by a train. Each has numbered gates. If you land in the same Concourse from which you are connecting, just walk to your gate. If you need to change Concourses, go to the middle of your landing Concourse, go down the escalator to the train or walkway and ride/walk to the next Concourse. Make sure you go down the escalator that heads to your next Concourse. Do not take the elevator, as there is usually a line and it will slow you down.

When the train/walkway gets to your new Concourse, take the escalator up, turn in the correct direction and walk to your new Gate. Again the numbers are consecutive and the walk is straight.

If you are running late, jump on one of the electric carts, which run up and down each Concourse. These are not just for invalids and can get you to the farther gates faster than walking. You can only take an electric cart within each Concourse. You may need to take one in the landing Concourse to the middle, hop off, take the escalator and train and escalator and hop on a new electric cart in the new gate.

In the connection thread, you can find a post where I had to go from a far E Gate to a far A or B gate and it took 12 minutes total, IIRC. As the poster suggests, you probably don't have to worry about Concourses E or F with flights to/from Madison and El Paso, but if you do, just look up at the signs. Atlanta has great signage.