After a failed attempt to put in place a new shuttle operator to run buses between the domestic and international terminals at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the existing contractor has been again selected to continue operating the service.
The terminal-to-terminal shuttle service has over the last couple of years been plagued with delays and long waits, prompting complaints from weary travelers trying to catch the shuttle to get home after long overseas flights. In fact, the city vowed to fix the service after passengers last summer complained of waits of an hour or more.
“I think that really is our Achilles’ heel,” said Atlanta City Council member Marci Collier Overstreet at a meeting Wednesday, adding that she would like people arriving on international flights to have a better experience.
The shuttles take arriving international travelers with their baggage to the domestic terminal, where the MARTA station is, or to the rental car center. The shuttles operate outside the terminals, while the Plane Train inside the airport whisks ticketed passengers between terminals and concourses in security-screened areas.
The operator of the city-owned shuttles, A-National Limousine, said the service has been hampered by out-of-service vehicles and other issues.
Under the new contract, airport officials say the plan is to have at least eight shuttles active every hour, with monitors to notify passengers of bus arrival times. Last summer, when many travelers complained of long waits, the airport said only four shuttles were in use.
“The ultimate goal is to ensure that passenger Airport curbside wait times do not exceed fifteen (15) minutes,” according to contracting documents. Plans are to also resume a route that goes directly from the international terminal to the rental car center.
The city and airport have gone through four years of contracting attempts, restarts and delays.
A-National, a longtime Atlanta-based limo operator and airport contractor, operates a fleet of larger buses and smaller shuttle vans for the terminal-to-terminal service and won the contract to continue offering the service, subject to city council approval. The council’s Transportation Committee on Wednesday voted in favor of the contract, sending it onto the full council for approval, which could come Monday. The two-year contract is for $12 million of work with a $700,000 management fee, with a one-year renewal option.
Shuttle delays
A-National Limousine President Darrell Anderson said a key problem in operating the shuttle service is that out of 13 large compressed natural gas buses purchased by the airport as part of a sustainability initiative, only two are in operation. Others are “out of service due to mechanical issues or not being able to get parts,” he said.
Anderson said “it takes six to eight months, if not longer, to get more buses.” The airport also controls the purchases of new vehicles, he said.
The buses in operation, he added, are sometimes delayed by traffic congestion during busy periods on airport roads that can take 15 or 20 minutes to navigate through to get to the curbside to pick up passengers.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Hartsfield-Jackson said in written comments that the total fleet for the service includes 27 shuttles, with 11 of those “in the process of being serviced or repaired.”
“Like the rest of the industry, ATL is experiencing longer service times due to a limited number of vendors and supply chain issues,” Hartsfield-Jackson said in a written statement. “Nevertheless, we have enough operational shuttles to support our passenger demand.”
The airport said it is working with A-National on a schedule “to replace older shuttles in phases over the next few years.”
Contracting problems
In last year’s attempt at finding a new contractor for the shuttle service, the winner selected was a joint venture of ABM, a large firm based in New York, and All N One Security Services, an Atlanta-based contract security firm certified by the city as a Small Business Enterprise.
A-National last year raised concerns at city council meetings and filed a protest of that decision, contending the city should have awarded the contract to a small business. After his comments, the council declined to approve the deal with ABM.
A-National got a contract extension and the city and airport rebid the contract, with different requirements that meant ABM no longer qualified.
It is now under a Small Business Opportunity Sheltered Market program, mandating small businesses perform a certain percentage of the work. Of six companies competing, only two met requirements to be deemed “responsive.” A-National scored higher than competitor MTI Limo and Shuttle Services to win the contract.
Curbside assistance for passengers with luggage getting onto shuttles will shift to the airport’s curbside management contract, currently held by MTI.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
The messy history of the contract highlights an issue that has persisted for years in airport contracting. Many small businesses want to work at the world’s busiest airport, but going through city contracting and operating at the airport is complex to navigate and costly.
Large companies that have operated in airports for decades wield an advantage with deep experience, business development teams and access to millions of dollars of capital.
But local businesses often have closer connections to politicians who can exert influence over contracting, as with the shuttle contract last year.
Anderson has made thousands of dollars of campaign contributions to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ campaign in the past few years, along with contributions to many council members’ campaigns.
“I have for over 40-something years contributed to a number of mayors and council members,” Anderson said. He said last year, he raised his issues with the city on the contracting process — before the contract got to city council, but “nobody took the time until I brought it to their attention.”
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