Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport didn’t stop any operations to celebrate its 100th birthday.
Employees set up a massive stage and bleachers in the middle of the domestic terminal atrium to host the city’s former mayors, former general managers, elected officials and celebrities — as passengers continued making their way to their flights.
“That’s what ATL does,” said Ryan Cameron, Atlanta radio host and voice of many of the airport’s recorded announcements.
In addition to current Mayor Andre Dickens, former Mayors Keisha Lance Bottoms, Bill Campbell, Shirley Franklin, Kasim Reed and Andrew Young were in attendance.
Wednesday marked 100 years since Atlanta first signed the lease for an abandoned racetrack near Hapeville that would grow into what has been the world’s busiest airport for about a quarter-century.
Today it employs more than 63,000 and has an estimated $66 billion annual statewide economic impact.
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“This airport is not just an asset, it’s a global force, and that didn’t happen by accident,” Jan Lennon, the airport’s executive deputy general manager, told the crowd.
“It happened because of people who dared to dream and did not quit. It happened because we believed in the impossible.”
Something most people don’t understand “is this airport pays for itself,” Young told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We have little to no government money in it. No taxpayer money.”
Atlanta’s airport has been a magnet for economic growth in the city, state and region in the past century.
Airport and city officials have also for decades faced allegations of insider dealing, with multimillion-dollar construction projects and concessions contracts coming under particular scrutiny.
Atlanta Congresswoman Nikema Williams called the airport “a central part of our economic story” as well as “central in our personal stories.”
“No matter how far I travel, coming back to Hartsfield-Jackson lets me know that I am indeed home,” she said, as she presented a congressional declaration of April 16, 2025, as “Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Day.”
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the second day of his second week on the job, new airport General Manager Ricky Smith took the stage before a half-dozen of his predecessors and all of Atlanta’s living former mayors.
He pointed out the airport is reflecting on its 100 years while very much preparing for the future: 125 million annual passengers within five years.
How does it plan to do that? “It’s all around you,” he said.
“As the old saying goes, if your airport is not growing, it’s dying. As you arrived here today you saw cranes, orange cones and robust construction. ATL is indeed alive and well.”
The airport is in the middle of a $12.8 billion capital improvement project seeking to upgrade “nearly every aspect of the airport over the next 20 years,” he added.
On Tuesday, the airport unveiled a series of centennial celebratory efforts.
Those include plans for a time capsule to be buried on the grounds, new mascots and a group of celebrity “centennial ambassadors,” including Atlanta rapper Jay “Jeezy” Jenkins, Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell, and entrepreneur and TV personality Kim Gravel.
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Byron Amos, who is City Council transportation chairman and a former airport employee, told the crowd that for the airport’s next 100 years they have a “responsibility” to ensure “we do everything we have been able to do, but do it better. That should be our goal.”
Dickens told the AJC in an interview the airport is actively working to stay atop the rankings, even as other airports in the Middle East and China may try to get close.
“We keep eyes on that,” he said.
“That’s why you see all this expansion work, not just to keep the title, but to serve the people. We are growing as a city and as a region, so that’s where all the flights and the passengers are coming from. As long as we keep growing as a region, this airport is going to continue to be number one.”
Just a day prior, Atlanta officially retained its “world’s busiest” title based on 2024 numbers.
“We still got it, Atlanta,” Dickens told the crowd.
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has launched a series of stories to mark the 100th anniversaries of both Delta Air Lines and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. This is the latest story in the series.
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