Delta Airlines - and ATL on a Leash

Photo Courtesy of Torsten Henning, public domain

Delta was threatening to leave Atlanta-Hartsfield over a disagreement on paying for a new terminal. Front page news yesterday was them finally making a deal. I also checked Delta's webpage, and it seems both ATL and DAL are very happy with the deal so far, or so they say. My guess is ATL probably has its' tail between its legs and a large red sore spot on the rump, but they still have a smile on their face.

Atlanta-Hartsfield is responsible for over "20 billion dollars annual impact" according to the DAL Newsroom - or approximately $4,000 for every man, woman, and child in Greater Atlanta. As Delta effectively owns half of Atlanta-Hartsfields Terminal space, and has Atlanta as its most important hub and corporate headquarters, Delta is heavilly connected to that $4,000. At a time when every one of ole' ATL's pillars is failing below it, from finances to media to Lockheed Martin, that $4000 has become more important then ever before. Unemploymet is now over 10%, and despite vast areas of unused brownfield in the city, especially near Oakland City and East Point MARTA stations and in Bankhead east of Tech, Atlanta continues to fail at attracting heavy industry. With no other possible expansion points in sight, the Airport has become a critical economic stabilizer, perhaps even an opiate, fool's gold telling us we're okay when we're not.

I've said it many times and I'll say it again, we are obviously suffering from taxes, regulation, and inefficient infrastructure, especially in transportation and water supply. Why else would half of Bankhead, in the core of the city and near major freeways, be deserted? Why else would a relatively well-educated labor force find no employment, despite low labor and living costs? And why else would a major rail hub with low land costs fail to find industry? And when we do "develop," it only serves to push out the locals, creating yet more despair and more crime somewhere else! And sometimes we can't even find tenants - we are clearly subsidizing, by one means or another, development that we don't need. Folks, you don't get land valued lower then Idaho Falls in a metro area of 5.3 million by making smart decisions!

So instead of cowtowing to Delta Airlines and depending on one industry for our cities future, let's actually diversify for once.