Subcommittee Questions Smith's True Motives

It's a questionable premise, at best... but that hasn't stopped one Georgia lawmaker from proposing the state take over Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), ostensibly to combat long lines and delays at the nation's busiest commercial airfield.

The Augusta Chronicle reports state Representative Bob Smith submitted his proposal Tuesday... too late to be considered by the Senate this year, though Smith concedes that's not really the point. He says he merely wants to open a discussion on the plan to gain control of the massive airport, now operated by the city of Atlanta.

"You people like to have all the empirical data and all," Smith told the House Aviation Subcommittee. "I don't have that. It's just to start a discussion."

Smith has done that. A number of lawmakers openly questioned Smith's true motives... implying the representative from Watkinsville, a town of just barely over 2,000 people in northern Georgia, wants greater state access to revenue generated by the airport, more so than to fix any real problems at the facility.

The state currently receives a relatively meager amount of money from ATL, with the bulk of operating revenues going to the city. That ties in to a "North vs. South" battle of ideologies in the state, which apart from the Atlanta metroplex is largely rural... and sometimes casts a resentful eye at the amount of attention (and money) Atlanta receives.

Officials with ATL also raised eyebrows at Smith's reasoning... noting Hartsfield-Jackson actually ranks among the best-run airports nationwide in terms of costs, efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Airport Manager Ben DeCosta told the subcommittee ATL was rated the most efficient large airport in the US in 2008, according to the Air Transport Research Society. Landing costs for passengers were $1.25, DeCosta noted, compared with $6 at some New York-area airports.

While passengers do sometimes have to wait in ticketing, security, and baggage claim lines, DeCosta also pointed to the survey claiming 71 percent of passengers flying through ATL rated their experience as "outstanding," which considering ATL's consistent status at the busiest US airport isn't that bad.

Another round of discussion on House Bill 644 is scheduled for Thursday. It should be interesting... stay tuned.

FMI: www.atlanta-airport.com/, www.legis.state.ga.us/