Airport Reference Signage

[architect77]

This is a hoot. After ATL airport opened its new international terminal with a completely separate entrance from a different interstate, they replaced about 50 overheads between downtown and the airport with these new "control cities": DOMESTIC and INTERNATIONAL. I love it, because it underscores the magnitude of Atlanta's airport, and it's just plain neat to see these powerful references that don't need any further explanation. Also, it makes all of Atlanta's southside appear to be part of the airport. What a hoot!

[Mdcastle]

Minnesota had overhead signs of which airlines service which terminal. The airline names fit into slots in the signs so they can be easily changed.

[realjd]

The control cities are "domestic" and "international" with the airplane icon. That at least provides some context.

[vtk]

That could be misleading for some people. 

"I want the Atlanta International Airport to catch my flight to Boston, so I guess I'll take I-75.  Hmm, 'Domestic' is a funny name for a regional airport..."

[SP Cook]

How does ATL handle Canadian flights?  In many airports Canadian flights (which go through USA Customs in Canada) are handled in the domestic terminals, which can be confusing when terminals are marked "International" and "Domestic".

[KEK Inc.]

That could be misleading for some people. 

"I want the Atlanta International Airport to catch my flight to Boston, so I guess I'll take I-75.  Hmm, 'Domestic' is a funny name for a regional airport..."

For anyone that has traveled by air before, they should know the distinction between International and Domestic flights...  Although, a physical separation of terminals by two interstates seems silly.  I was never impressed with Atlanta's airport design.

[jeffandnicole]

There are A LOT of people who have never flown before, and a LOT of people that rarely fly.  Then imagine all the visitors that are in Atlanta and need to head back to an unfamiliar airport.

There's potential for a lot of confusion.

The airport signs should've been posted separately on a different sign on a different gantry over the road, or at the very least posted in all caps or some differing font.  Nothing even says the airport is ATL.  In most cities, the airport name is posted heading to the airprot as well.

[Truvelo]

vtk's comment is very significant. The signs may give people unfamiliar with the airport there are two airports. I would improve the signs by removing Macon and Montgomery and have International Departures and Domestic Departures along with the aircraft symbols.

[cpzilliacus]

This is a hoot. After ATL airport opened its new international terminal with a completely separate entrance from a different interstate, they replaced about 50 overheads between downtown and the airport with these new "control cities": DOMESTIC and INTERNATIONAL. I love it, because it underscores the magnitude of Atlanta's airport, and it's just plain neat to see these powerful references that don't need any further explanation. Also, it makes all of Atlanta's southside appear to be part of the airport. What a hoot!

Pretty common in places outside the United States.  Consider the trilingual signage on Highway 135 approaching the largest airport in Finland (a huge airport by Finnish standards, but a little bit smaller than Atlanta Hartsfield) on GSV here.

[cpzilliacus]

vtk's comment is very significant. The signs may give people unfamiliar with the airport there are two airports. I would improve the signs by removing Macon and Montgomery and have International Departures and Domestic Departures along with the aircraft symbols.

I second (or third) that.  Airport-specific signage is entirely appropriate, given that by definition, you will have drivers that don't know exactly where they are going entering the airport area.

[formulanone]

You can still get to either terminal at ATL, regardless of which exit you take. It just depends on how much walking you'd like to do.

[hobsini2]

Or here is another thought. How about "ATL Int'l Flights" and "ATL Domestic Flights" or a sign like this would be less confusing:



That way, you have the airport code on the sign so out of towners don't think there are 2 different airports.

[SP Cook]

You can still get to either terminal at ATL, regardless of which exit you take. It just depends on how much walking you'd like to do.

Unlike Las Vegas, which recently added a terminal (confusingly Terminal 3, with the old Terminal 2 abandoned at the same time) which is for all international flights and some domestic flights, which is reached from a different road.  The only way to get from one terminal to another is through security, and, if you go to the wrong one, there would be no one to check you in from your airline to let you do that (I guess you could print your own ticket, but you get the point).

Since MUTCD identifies multiple colors as appropriate for road signage, but unassigned, I believe that airport directional signage should be assigned one of those (from highways, off-highway signage on airport property is non-MUTCD complaiant anyway). 

I also think that airports should be simply "airport" unless you are in a city where there actually are multiple airports (such as New York, Washington, etc), and then the distinguisher should be what is commonly used, such as the code (JFK, DCA, LAX, etc) or the short from of the common name (Dulles, Newark, Orange County, etc).  No need for long form names with politicans etc.

Also, off-topic from highways, but the practice of renaming an airport after another city by discounters, should be illegal.  For example several discounters advertize trips to "Orlando" but do not fly into Orlando, but into an airport 30 miles away in Sanford, which they renamed "Orlando-Sanford".  Its not.

[hobsini2]

SP Cook, I have a bigger problem if the airport is not in the metro area of the city but the airport still uses the metro area city name. For example, Chicago-Rockford Int'l Airport.  Rockford Airport is over 80 miles way from Downtown Chicago.

[lordsutch]

Or here is another thought. How about "ATL Int'l Flights" and "ATL Domestic Flights" or a sign like this would be less confusing:



That way, you have the airport code on the sign so out of towners don't think there are 2 different airports.

Such a sign actually exists on I-75/85 southbound from downtown (the exact terminology is a little different, but there's at least one).

How does ATL handle Canadian flights?  In many airports Canadian flights (which go through USA Customs in Canada) are handled in the domestic terminals, which can be confusing when terminals are marked "International" and "Domestic".

Flights to Canada depart from Concourses E and F, which are attached to the International terminal, and typically arrive at E or F, although most passengers from Canadian airports (eg those with preclearance) don't need to clear customs & immigration at the international terminal and will be released into the common (domestic arrivals and all departing passengers) sterile area.  However, ATL-terminating passengers' checked bags from Canada, regardless of preclearance, must be claimed at the International terminal.  I believe the same arrangements apply to flights to/from the Bahamas and Ireland, where US preclearance facilities also exist for US-bound passengers.

My understanding is that passengers without checked bags who have a boarding pass, or those who have checked bags on Delta or another airline with a presence at both terminals (my guess, for example, is that Air Canada's ground operations are actually run by their alliance partner United at ATL), can depart from either terminal, even though with checked bags this is discouraged.  On arrival, checked bags go to which ever terminal is appropriate based on your ATL-bound segment, and if you do go through customs/immigration you will be sent to the international terminal and they won't let you back into the sterile area to go back to the domestic one unless you have a boarding pass for a segment departing from ATL.

If you do end up at the wrong terminal, there are shuttle vans, but walking would require traversing the perimeter of the airport (it'd probably take several hours).  Even driving from one to the other would probably take 10-15 minutes in good traffic, if you end up at the wrong one.

[realjd]

How does ATL handle Canadian flights?  In many airports Canadian flights (which go through USA Customs in Canada) are handled in the domestic terminals, which can be confusing when terminals are marked "International" and "Domestic".

Canadian flights leave from any concourse in ATL but you still check in at the Int'l concourse. The International and Domestic signs point to different check in terminals for the same physicl airport concourse. Similarly, flights from Canada land anywhere in the airport (having preclear end US immigration and customs t the departure airport) but the bags are sent to bag claims at the international terminal.

[roadfro]

Unlike Las Vegas, which recently added a terminal (confusingly Terminal 3, with the old Terminal 2 abandoned at the same time) which is for all international flights and some domestic flights, which is reached from a different road.  The only way to get from one terminal to another is through security, and, if you go to the wrong one, there would be no one to check you in from your airline to let you do that (I guess you could print your own ticket, but you get the point).

Ah, but a difference is that you use any of three major entrances to McCarran Airport to access both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, and follow separate roadways once you get into the airport grounds to either terminal--you don't have to take a different exit to get to one or the other.

McCarran officials were concerned with potential confusion upon the opening of Terminal 3, especially considering that some domestic airlines would be operating from there, or operating ticketing/baggage from Terminal 3 but departing from D concourse (part of Terminal 1). To help with the confusion, all major approaches to McCarran Airport now have a series of overhead signs that help distinguish which terminal to go to. The sequence, in order:

• BGS: "Airline Terminals" / "[T1] & [T3] Domestic" / "[T3] All International"
  
• BGS: "[T3] Domestic" / (2 VMS signs displaying airlines with ticketing counters in T3)
  
• BGS: "More [T3] Domestic" / (2 more VMSs)
  
• BGS: "[T1] / All Other Domestic"
  On the airport grounds, initial signs help direct drivers to the proper terminal using only the [T1] or [T3] symbols. Once on the approach to the proper terminal, the signs are more detailed for finding departing flights, passenger pickup, parking, etc.
  
  For those departing passengers that end up at the wrong terminal without the ability to get through security, McCarran operates a shuttle between the two terminals.