Atlanta is world's first airport to hit 100 million passengers in year

Ben Mutzabaugh | USA TODAY

The world’s busiest airport says it has become the first in the world to top a major passenger milestone.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport counted its 100 millionth passenger on Sunday morning, something that the airport says makes it the first airport in the world to ever serve that many passengers in a single calendar year.

Atlanta’s airport even went so far as to estimate when the 100 millionth passenger would arrive. Officials tabbed Larry Kendrick – a customer on an arriving Delta flight from Mississippi’s Gulfport/Biloxi International Airport – as the milestone passenger.

Atlanta airport says it determined the 100 millionth passenger after it "created an algorithm based on actual passenger numbers from January through November, and projected passenger numbers in December. Accounting firm KPMG validated the algorithm and had representatives attend the event early Sunday morning." All that set the stage for Kendrick to be counted as the milestone passenger.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution describes the scene from his arrival, writing that Kendrick “stepped off his flight wearing blue jeans ... and a bemused expression as he was greeted by dark-suited dignitaries, airport and airline workers and even the drumline from Tri-Cities High School.”

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Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and a gaggle of TV media crews also were there on a red carpet to greet Kendrick upon his arrival in Atlanta.

But Kendrick was more than a publicity figure; he also walked away with prizes worth tens of thousands of dollars -- all for his good luck in being counted as the Atlanta's one millionth passenger. His prizes include a new car – a Nissan Altima – as well as a $500 gift card and two round-trip tickets on Delta good for any destination served by the carrier.

"That's a very big surprise," Kendrick tells the Journal-Constitution. "I have no clue where I'm going to go. Probably to Disneyland.”

An an industrial construction worker, Kendrick was traveling to Iowa via Atlanta for work when he was tabbed by the airport. And he apparently had some time to reconsider the use of his free tickets since talking to the Journal-Constitution on Sunday.

“I’ve seen a lot of the United States, so Australia is definitely in the mix. Dubai does sound pretty good, too. I don’t know – it’s up in the air,” Kendrick is quoted as saying in a Monday afternoon release from the Atlanta airport.

Video: Atlanta welcomes 100 millionth passenger

100 millionth traveler marks busiest day of travel season 100 millionth traveler marks busiest day of travel season

For Atlanta, the airport had already secured the title as the “world’s busiest airport” as determined by the number of passengers for the 17th year in a row in 2014 -- the latest year for which full-year data is available. Surpassing the 100 million passenger milestone is only like to cement the airport’s reputation as the world’s busiest.

Still, that milestone apparently came as something of a surprise. Airport officials tell WXIA TV of Atlanta they hadn’t expected to crack 100 million passengers for the year, but that the airport did so after a strong end-of-year push kept the passenger count climbing.

Overall, the airport’s 2015 passenger traffic was up about 5% as compared to 2014, says Hartsfield-Jackson general manager Miguel Southwell.

Atlanta, of course, is anchored by hometown carrier Delta Air Lines. The nation’s second-biggest carrier operates its busiest hub at the airport, with the local and connecting passenger traffic combining to give Atlanta a higher passenger count than bigger metro areas elsewhere.

Also aiding Atlanta is that the city is one of the largest on the continent with just a single airport for commercial passenger flights. Chicago, Dallas and Houston -- for example -- each have two major airports. And several metro areas – including New York, Washington/Baltimore, Los Angeles and San Francisco – have three or more major airports within 45 miles of their city centers.

Still, the Journal-Constitution suggests Atlanta’s days as the “world’s busiest airport” may be numbered.

Indeed, it was in 2014 that Chicago O'Hare reclaimed its long-lost title as the "world's busiest airport" as measured by takeoffs and landings. Still, Atlanta continued its nearly two-decade strangled hold on the "world's busiest" title as determined by passenger count, which is regarded by most industry observers as the best barometer in saying which airport is the "busiest."

But there could be more headwinds on the horizon. "Many expect China's Beijing International to soon surpass Atlanta as the world's busiest airport, and Dubai's airport is expanding to be able to accommodate as many as 240 million passengers a year," writes the Journal-Constitution.

But, whatever comes in the years ahead, it will be Atlanta that will be able to say it was the first to crack the threshold of 100 million annual passengers.

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