Flight Mode | Inside the NASA-Inspired Room That Guides 5,000 Airplanes

Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson

is the busiest airport in the world.

Over 2,500 planes land and take off every day.

With more than 250,000 passengers

jetting to 225 destinations

in 50 countries

all around the globe.

(light clapping music)

Delta Airlines is responsible for 75% of that air traffic

but the airline's entire operation

extends far beyond its headquarters in Atlanta,

with over 5,000 flights a day all around the world.

And managing it all is a logistical nightmare.

This room is mission control for the airline.

It's a place that few of us get to see as passengers

but which has a huge impact on our journeys.

There's data coming in here on everything from

the weather, to our flight paths,

to air traffic control, to passenger issues,

and it's all monitored for every plane

anywhere in the world.

It looks like a NASA facility

and that's because there are around 300 specialists here

dealing with that incessant flow of information

that streams in 24 seven.

It is key not only to know

where each and every airplane is,

but it's also key to know

where each and every customer is on those airplanes.

[Jack] Giant screens at the front

display the most critical information,

and each desk has what looks like

the worlds most impenetrable spreadsheet.

So as you look around this vast office,

you'll see that each and every dispatcher,

each and every entity

has their own flight following tool

set specifically to the area of the world

with which they're working.

We add into that all the complexity

of the ATC environment and the FAA environment.

[Jack] What he means is that

they're sharing data and updates

with air traffic control managers at airports all over,

so you can kind of see how managers here

are a sort of benign big brother.

Maintenance is another key function.

Getting a spare part to a stranded flight

can make the difference between a cancellation or not.

Of course delays do happen.

One in 10 flights actually won't take off on time.

And when things do go wrong,

because a storm rolled in

or someone just forgot to fuel the jet,

staff here start work trying to divert the flight,

to find new crew,

or to get passengers onto a different aircraft.

It's a stressful job and it may be a thankless task

because if it all runs smoothly,

passengers will never know this room exists.