Quick Links ATL is named after two former mayors ATL has the tallest ATC tower in the US ATL was late to get international flights ATL is an art lover's paradise ATL has a 'Beagle Brigade' When I first moved to Atlanta nearly two decades ago as part of a team helping to test and launch a new-fangled device called an 'iPhone', I knew very little about the city itself. Sure, I had seen it on television during the 1996 Olympics, I had heard about the Braves, and I knew it was home to Coca-Cola, but that was about it. But as an aviation enthusiast, I also knew it was home to Delta Air Lines, and like all of us have heard many times, it has the world's busiest airport.
So as someone who travels a lot for business, I was excited to explore it further. All these years later, after a few thousand flights to and from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), it feels like a second home to me. So, let me share a few fast facts about it that you may not know.
1 ATL is named after two former mayors Both were commercial aviation visionaries We all know who JFK, IAH, or DCA are named after, but ATL is a bit of a mystery to some. The airport is named after two former mayors of Atlanta, William Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson. Hartsfield is credited with having the vision of Atlanta as an aviation hub.
In a city founded as a railroad hub, he believed it could develop further and be the same for air transportation. As an alderman, Hartsfield helped establish Atlanta's first air.
