Passengers wait to board a plane to Tokyo, the first flight to leave out of the new Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. International Terminal at Atlanta’s airport on the first day it begins operating flights Wednesday in Atlanta.ATLANTA – On a stage beneath a Swarovski crystal chandelier in the Atlanta airport’s new international terminal, city leaders past and present gathered recently to laud the complex.
They praised both the aesthetics – which add some form to an airport best known for function – and the practical benefits. From now on international passengers can claim their bags in the new terminal and leave from there, rather than having to recheck them for the ride to Hartsfield-Jackson’s main terminal.
“Travelers will love the efficiency, especially when they only have to claim their bag one time,” said Mayor Kasim Reed, adding dryly: “And it only cost us about a billion and a half dollars to make that happen.”
His comment underscored the reality that, while fliers focus on learning how to use the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal, its opening Wednesday culminates a tortured history of cost increases, delays and legal snarls.
“It’s been a long, tough, laborious process,” Reed acknowledged recently.