THE WILLIAM B. HARTSFIELD ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Former Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield passed away on February 22, 1971 and a week later on February 28, on what would have been his 81st birthday, the airport was renamed in his honor. The airport name was changed again on July 1 to William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, when Eastern Airlines introduced flights to Mexico City, Atlanta's first international service.
The inauguration of international air service was a major milestone for Atlanta and the Atlanta Journal - Constitution dedicated the entire front page of the Sunday paper to the story.
In this photo, a curbside stage is set for a short ceremony to take place before the departure of Atlanta's first international flight on July 1, 1971.
The festivities included a mariachi band that greeted passengers checking in for the maiden flight to Mexico City.
Exactly a year after the first flight to Mexico, Atlanta gained its second international route when Eastern introduced daily nonstop flights to Montego Bay, Jamaica on July 1, 1972.
Eastern's ticketing area and concourse A were decorated with banners celebrating the latest international flights.
The following images show ATL scenes from the early 1970s.
A great evening view of concourse C with an unusual visitor: a DC-8 of charter carrier Saturn Airways. Also of interest are the pair of Air South Beech 99s parked behind the Southern Martin 404.
A great evening view of concourse C with an unusual visitor: a DC-8 of charter carrier Saturn Airways. Also of interest are the pair of Air South Beech 99s parked behind the Southern Martin 404.
Early 1970s view of concourses E and F from the control tower. Even with the recent addition of the rotundas, nearly every Delta gate is occupied.
An infrared NASA photo of ATL taken on May 5, 1970 shows 2 parallel runways and 2 crosswind runways in use. The houses west of the airport had been removed for the planned midfield terminal but at this point the streets still remained. Also, an entire subdivision on the east side of the airport was flattened to make way for the expansion of Delta's maintenance facilities.
Circa 1971 postcard showing one of Delta's L-100 Air Freighters, the commercial version of the Lockheed Hercules. With the arrival of the Boeing 747s and DC-10s with their enormous cargo holds, these specialized freighters were no longer necessary and were retired in 1973.
A United Airlines 737 preparing to leave the gate, as seen from the observation deck, March 1970.
Piedmont Airlines operated Japanese-built Nihon YS-11 turboprops on short-haul routes from Atlanta. This beautiful 1972 photo was also taken from Atlanta's great observation deck. Eastern's concourse B is in the background.
Another Piedmont YS-11 arrives at the gate in this 1973 photo. An Eastern Airlines DC-9 is at concourse B.
United's 737 N9067U pushes back from the gate in June 1973. On the right side of the rotunda in the background are Delta's double jetways used for Boeing 747s
A Piedmont 737 is dwarfed by Atlanta's turquoise administration building in this 1974 photo.
David Carter sent in this photo of a pair of United 727s. This was taken by David's dad, a United employee at Atlanta during the 1970s. The interesting thing about this photo is that it was taken from the roof of concourse D but definitely not from the observation deck!
A Delta DC-8 pushes back from the gate on concourse E in October 1974. A Delta 727, L-1011 and DC-8 can be seen in the background.
