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Inside Hartsfield-Jackson on one of busiest travel days of year

From takeoff to landing and everything in between, the airport workers don’t miss a beat.
Hartsfield-Jackson Airport

ATLANTA – On one of the business travel days of the year at the busiest airport in the world, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is a well-oiled machine.

From takeoff to landing and everything in between, the airport workers don’t miss a beat. Especially considering that the day before Thanksgiving is notoriously one of the busiest travel days by car and plane.

While Deputy General Manager Balram Bheodari doesn’t get to watch many planes take off, when he hears them all he can think off is success.

It takes a lot to make holiday travel successful and that’s why his nickname is the Jedi Warrior.

Hartsfield-Jackson Airport

Around 300,000 people will come through Hartsfield-Jackson on Wednesday alone. Bheodari said enhanced security, help to navigate traffic from Atlanta Police, and the extra staff who thrive on days like this is the key to their success.

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“To these employees, this is their forte. This is what they’re here for,” Bheodari said. “So there was no need to really hype them up. They’re already hyped up as it is.”

While the terminals stay busy, the real action happens on Hartsfield-Jackson’s five parallel runways and the control tower, which happens to be the tallest.

Flower off the runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport

“Later on, this afternoon you will see a lot of hustle and bustle out on the airfield,” Bheodari said. “You will see a string of aircraft landing up for departure and a string of aircraft landing up to land here at the airport.”

While more than 2,800 planes will come in and out of the airport on Wednesday, about a hundred will just sit as they wait to take passengers home on Sunday.

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