You captured N8148N, an Eastern 727. The day after Christmas in 1988, a score mark on the fuselage, made by a maintenance person probably years before, caused a tear in the outer skin as the plane was in route to Atlanta from Rochester. The plane suffered a decompression from the 14 inch hole that blew out of the side of the aircraft. It made an emergency landing in Charleston with no injuries.
By 1980 this airport was a hot mess. As the video shows it was horribly over crowded. There was a definite need for the new mid-field terminal. You would sometimes have to walk from one end to the other to make connections. I liked seeing the Republic name on the Southern and North Central aircraft. Piedmont, Republic, all memories now.
Having grown up near Atlanta and my mom being a Eastern Flight attendant since the late 60's I remember flying out of the old ATL airport very well. In many ways it was better than it is today. Much easier to get around.
How awesome! My dad was based there as a DC-9 Captain with Southern/Republic, and I remember many trips with him as a little girl to the old terminal to turn in his bid sheet & hang out in the crew lounge. Great memories!
Atlanta had 3 runways at that time. This was 4 months before the new terminal opened in Sept 1980. I started working for Delta in August of 1980, and was part of the moving crew to set up the new airport. We moved everything in just 2 nights. It was amazing to think how much traffic the old building handled. It was built in 1961 to handle 4 million passengers per year. At this filming, it was handling 43 million/yr. The tarmac looks like a cluster for sure, and for good reason!
One of the absolute best vintage aviation videos i have ever seen!!!! I was just a year old in 1980 when this video was shot!!!! Absolute love it and so many legendary and so missed airlines in this video like Eastern oh how i wish they were still around,and Piedmont 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
Awesome Atlanta Airport footage from 1980. I flew out of the old ATL terminal in February 1977 on Delta JFK-ATL DC-8-61 connecting to Delta ATL-Orlando L-1011. Then one last time Feb 1980 Eastern L-1011 LAX-ATL connecting to Eastern DC-9 ATL-RIC-LGA. I didn't realize how congested the airport was at that time. Thanks for posting this snapshot in airport/airline history. 👍
What a find! A GREAT memory from my days growing up in Georgia! I may have actually been on one of those Eastern flights departing ATL. WOW! Southern Airlines (by then under Piedmont's guidance). And the airport itself, then a major hub for most flights. Only two terminals IIRC. Now, ATL is this sprawling complex, and damn impossible to get around even changing flights. It's a shame that you can't just go to the airport and watch planes takeoff and land anymore with our state of security .
What a great video! My earliest memories of ATL date to 1983 or so; I don't remember the old terminal at all. Thanks for capturing the end of an era; looks like the almost-finished new midfield terminal complex is visible in the background a couple times, and I love the Republic DC-9 still in Southern colors.
The old super 8 mm film had to be transferred to video tape and then I had to transfer the video to my computer's hard drive. I then used a video editing program to add a music track. Very simple actually. Glad you enjoyed it !
Absolutely stunning! Amazing piece of nostalgia! The soundtrack fits all too well! I miss these days. Long live the widget and the great giants, Eastern, Braniff.
Love this video! I was born in the mid-80s, so I obviously never saw the old terminal. It's cool to see the empty new midfield terminal in the background of many of the shots as well (only months before it opened)....just waiting to relieve the congestion.
