Atlanta/Hartsfield (ATL)
Delta MD-90 touching down on 27R. View from the Renaissance Hotel.Atlanta/Hartsfield is a very nice airport...nice facilities, good places to spot, good amount of heavies, and all the traffic you can handle. Unfortunately, ATL is a hub location, and as such, it suffers from "Hub Syndrome"...Delta is the dominant airline, and in time you'll be so bored of the same ol' thing that you'll want to go home. In addition, ATL has very few places within the terminal that offer any kind of quality spotting. But aside from that, fans of Delta will get a real kick out of ATL, and if you can handle being bombarded with only one airline, ATL is an airport you will surely enjoy.ATL is built a lot like LAX, with two east-west runway systems (9/27 L&R, 8/26 L&R), which stradle the terminal area. It has an underground railway to connect you to each terminal, and it has a fair amount of international airlines, including KLM, Air Jamaica, Lufthansa, and British Airways. ATL makes up for a lack of indoor spotting areas by provding some quality outdoor areas and one fantastic spotting hotel.
Delta L-1011 taxiing into position on 27L. View from N. Inner Loop Rd. INDOORS:
-Renaissance Hotel: One of the best (if not THE best) spotting hotels in the country.
Located on the north end of the airport, this hotel gives you an absolutely spectacular
view of the action at the airport. Rooms are small and fairly expensive (my room when I stayed there was more
than $150), but the view of the airport is really great. If you have the money, it’s worth the price of admission.
Swissair 747-300 arriving on 27R. View from the Renaissance Hotel.OUTDOORS:
-South Terminal Parking Garage: Terrific view of the action on the south side of the field. Takeoffs to the west are really nice...the planes rotate just as they come into view from around the terminal. Approaches from the west are even nicer. The garage is very close to the airstrip and the taxiways, getting you up close and personal with the birds.
-Loop Rd., east and northeast side of the airfield. All along the eastern edge of Loop Rd. there are great places to watch the action, especially on the north side of the field. When planes are approaching from the east, Loop Rd. is one of the best places in the country to watch approaches...low flying big birds grazing the top of the perimeter fence...quite a sight. 
Delta 757 taxiing off 26R. View from the South Parking Garage.PRE-9/11 SECURITY REPORT:
-Security does seem to keep a strong presence at ATL. You always see cop cars driving
around inside the perimeter, and the fence along the perimeter is dotted with "No
Stopping or Standing at Any Time" signs. Although the cops are there, they don’t seem
to ever bother you. I never saw a cop in the several hours I spent spotting in the south
parking garage, and although I saw a few cops drive by when I was camped out along
Loop Rd., they never stopped and told me to leave.
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