I’m not a frequent Delta Air Lines flyer or Atlanta traveler, so I don’t know whether to pat myself on the back for making a 10-minute connection across five terminals in Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport or whether this is par for the course.
My 10-Minute Flight Connection From Concourse F To Concourse B In Atlanta Airport
My Delta flight from Los Angeles arrived late and being an A350-900, we landed in Concourse F, the international terminal area of ATL.
My flight was set to arrive into Atlanta at 4:39 pm, with my connection to Chicago departing at 5:25 pm, but we only pulled up to the gate at 4:47 pm and I was not off the plane until 4:55 pm, with 10 minutes to connect before the 15-minute boarding cutoff for my connection to Chicago.
I thought for sure I would miss it, but decided to “make a run for it.” From Concourse F I made a beeline for the train system that connecters each concourse in ATL and my timing was great: I hopped on a train toward Concourse B just as the doors were closing.
I have to hand it to Delta: the train system is very efficient. Five minutes later I arrived at the B gates then bolted upstairs, though I still had quite a walk to my gate. I made it exactly at 5:05 pm, with “last call” being made for boarding.
Settling into my seat, the captain welcomed everyone onboard…and announced a 70-minute air traffic control delay. Ha.
So to regular ATL flyers, is this sort of thing normal? Even if my flight had been on time (it was only 10 minutes late), are people realistically supposed to make connections that quickly? Had I not run, I would have missed it (at least before the delay). I understand the economics of flight banking as well as the attractiveness of that from the consumer side in reducing overall flight duration, but it seemed almost crazy in the first place to schedule such a tight connection.
CONCLUSION
I made my connection in ATL in 10-minutes, which I thought was impressive considering I had to transfer across five conncrouses in world’s busiest airport. But maybe that’s just “the way it is” for frequent ATL travelers? I dunno, I think I’ll schedule a long layover next time around…
There’s a reason basically every terminal designed since ATL was built is in the “toast rack” design. Very efficient both for connections and for keeping planes moving on the ground
And, if you aren’t interested in taking The Plane Train, you can walk between them, underground, unlike DEN. Personal favorite is Flight Path with the simulated tree canopy, bird sounds, and lighting.
My mom and I just had a connection in Atlanta and we had plenty of time between the flights. We walked all the connecting tunnels and really enjoyed it. The one with the forest canopy and birds, the featured local artists, and the Atlanta history exhibits were all great to see. A great way to pass your time.
to think that the dumb southerners that ran DL and Eastern in the 1970s had the forethought to build a termal complex as efficient as ATL is what is most remarkable.
DFW and DEN are both “new” airports and neither is as efficient as ATL which was rebuilt.
it is also worth asking why your flight was late even 5 minutes; many DL flights to ATL arrive early.
also noteworthy is that you are making a circuitous connection from LAX to ORD via ATL; the sheer number of flights that connect at ATL creates some connections that DL doesn’t sell much of and LAX to ORD is likely one of them – which is why they are entering the market nonstop
When DFW was built, it was not designed as a hub airport, it was designed as an O and D airport.
I believe ATL is now the second busiest airport, they have been surpassed by ORD.
It’s really like night and day in terms of efficiency – Chicago with it’s dreary old terminals and disconnected Terminal 5…
no, ATL leads the world in number of passengers handled.
The two airlines that hub at ORD clog the skies with RJs – including 42 and 50 seat RJs by UA while DL runs 90% of its ATL operation on mainline aircraft.
ORD has the lowest average aircraft size of any hub except for LGA and DCA, both of which are perimeter restricted.
Delta at ATL has the highest average aircraft size of any major US airline hub.
Thats wonderful.
Next week I can fly round trip to New York from Chicago for $515.
From Atlanta, the same times on Delta its $857.
I think I’d rather be in Chicago
which simply shows why Scott Kirby wants so badly to duplicate at ORD what DL has at ATL.
not only did DL get the market right at ATL – survived Eastern, AirTran and Southwest – but also built a facility that is far more efficient than any airline hub in the world.
EK at DXB used to move almost as much traffic as DL does at ATL but ATL is a much lower cost per passenger operation.
Even DFW which is the closest US hub to ATL has to compete with Love Field and is far less efficient in terms of cost and terminal design.
“which simply shows why Scott Kirby wants so badly to duplicate at ORD what DL has at ATL.”
And as a customer, im rooting for him to fail at that
Even though you had 10 mins to walk between gates, your connection was really 38 minutes (between the actual arrival of your first flight and the departure time of the connection). That’s above the MCT of 35 minutes, so making a connection that tight is presumed to be doable and is very much baked into the design of the airport and flight schedule. It’s an efficient airport!
I have made some of the tightest connections on Delta in Atlanta. The underground train system is so efficient and reliable … and FAST. Getting from the inbound gate to the train and then, the train to the connecting gate doesn’t involve a lot of walking. The new SLC Delta hub is a walking nightmare not to mention MSP. You had a very good experience, but one that – fortunately – is pretty routine in ATL.
A well-timed connection deed, Mr. Matthew!
Yea I did the same thing on a flight to cancun last fall with toddlers lol. The gate agent was there ticketing standby passengers when we walked up, closed the door behind us. Standby did not board. Still not sure how we made it, no diaper change for sure.
Yes, that’s normal for transiting ATL. I used to transit ATL for years – about 7 years in total. You could go move reasonably fast from the furthest point in terminal F to the furthest point in the furthest away terminal T. However, this could never be done in, say, DEN/DFW/MSP/IAH or many others. ATL just works and works well for me.
I once watched a documentary on how ATL was designed – with the colors and patterns and other cues to move passengers along.
Why does Delta sell a ticket with a 46 minute connection time at ATL? With the 15 minute boarding cutoff, the connection time on the ticket was only 31 minutes. Why does Delta allow that tight of a connection? Why does any carrier allow such a tight connection?
Matt, you need to have the Delta experience more frequently! I transit through ATL all the time and your experience was pretty much normal.
Greetings to remarkable ATL!
Let’s recall that since 1998, ATL has been the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic, except 2020, when its passenger traffic dipped for that year due to travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, ATL is the primary hub of DL, and it is home to the airline’s corporate headquarters. The DL hub is the world’s largest airline hub, and it is considered the first mega-hub in America. Additionally, ATL is the home of DL’s Technical Operations Center, which is the airline’s primary maintenance, repair and overhaul arm. Aside from DL, ATL is also an operating base for low-cost carriers F9, and WN.
For aviation enthusiasts → The DL aircraft featured in the article is an A350-900 (age: 1.8 years). It is currently en route from JNB to ATL.
B is for Bagel. Which you can get in every concourse
ATL has been my home airport for 26 years. It’s not glamorous but very efficient. All gates are connected to jet bridges. All gates are interconnected after security so you never need to go through security on a connection. Every pier has a Delta lounge. The train from the city goes right above check-in. It’s a very efficient system.
That was just short of a miracle>> even if flight delayed you still have to be in the seat. You were lucky the Plane Train was running and not broken…I has to go T to E with very little time for International flight and it was broken not fun