ATLANTA – Ride-share numbers are booming for those who head to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but one Atlanta City Council member says he is getting complaints from Uber and Lyft customers that the ride-share experience needs to improve. 

The world’s busiest airport is trying to address its customer experience numbers, which have also taken a dip of late.

The problem is the last thing travelers want to do after an exhaustive trip at the airport, is push your luggage an extended distance to get an Uber or Lyft. However, that is what is happening at Atlanta’s airport. 

“We are going to be hosting a whole lot of people, and we wanted it to be enjoyable,” interim Airport General Manager Jan Lennon explained. Lennon told the council’s Transportation Committee that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport wants to be ready when the FIFA World Cup arrives in 2026.

One council member says he wants improvements to what has become the airport’s Achilles heel. 

“Why is the ride-share experience so bad at Atlantis airport? Why do you have to hike so far to catch a ride when that’s what the majority of our customers are doing?” District 2 Amir Farokhi questioned. 

The council member is right. Ride-share numbers are exploding with 3.3 million people projected this year, in contrast to 463,000 passengers using taxis. 

“We are not serving our customers well if our ride-share experience is what it is, given the number of people who are using it and the revenues generated for our airport,” Farokhi declared. 

Lennon says her team is working on improving the ride-share experience.

“We are in a constraint area, working in a small confinement. Getting passengers to ride-share closer because it is a long distance, and we do understand that, especially people with ADA issues and things like that, so we are looking at that,” Lennon responded. 

Lennon says the airport won a service quality award just yesterday for 2023, but concedes the customer experience numbers have taken a dip. 

“Wait times were some of the reasons. I just had a meeting with the TSA administrator and preparing him. This is what’s happening for this airport. Moving forward, we need more officers,” Lennon demanded.

The Interim GM also announced the airport has hired Karen Ellis.

Ellis is a customer Chief Experience Officer who plans to help them get the customer experience numbers back up.

The first high-profile matchup of the Mark Pope era ended with euphoria for the Big Blue Nation.

There were several points on Tuesday night in Atlanta when it felt like Kentucky was on the verge of being blown out by the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils. But this scrappy group of Wildcats never wavered, fighting the full 40 minutes and ultimately running Duke’s talented freshmen into the ground.

Thanks to a couple of clutch free throws by Otega Oweh and lockdown defense down the stretch on Duke’s projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, No. 19 Kentucky came out with the 77-72 win in the Champions Classic. UK led for just a little over seven minutes of game time but stepped up when the moment called for it. Both sides shot 40 percent from the field, but Kentucky’s 10-25 mark from deep (compared to 4-23 for Duke) made the difference.

Oweh was among the standouts for Kentucky, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. His stellar play in the final minutes won UK the game. Andrew Carr was arguably the most important Wildcat though with 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Nine of his points came in the second half. Amari Williams rounded out UK’s double-digit scorers with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Flagg, the uber-talented 17-year-old freshman, finished his night with 26 points and 12 rebounds, but he shot just 9-19 from the field and was hounded by Kentucky’s defenders throughout the entirety of the second half.

Duke would throw the first punch, jumping out to an immediate 4-0 lead as Kentucky looked rattled. Pope’s group of veterans would quickly settle in though. A 5-5 start from deep from beyond the arc for the Wildcats put them in front by as many as six. Flagg made his presence felt early on and was up to 12 points through the first 12 minutes of action. This was around the time that Kentucky’s halfcourt offense began to stall, made worse by a rough opening half on both ends of the floor by starting point guard Lamont Butler.

After making its first five shots from deep, Kentucky went on to miss the next eight. Duke was in the double bonus roughly 11 minutes in. A contested layup by Kon Knueppel gave the Blue Devils a six-point lead. Soon after, with 6:40 left in the first half, Flagg was tagged with his second personal foul and went to the bench. Koby Brea would end UK’s outside shooting drought thanks to a three-pointer that made it 33-29 with under five minutes until the break.

Duke would later lead by as many as 10 points before settling on the halftime score of 46-37. The Blue Devils recorded just one first-half turnover compared to seven for UK. Carr, Oweh, and Butler all had two fouls while Duke’s Flagg (2), Khaman Maluach (2), and Maliq Brown (3) were also in foul trouble. The Blue Devils were living in the paint with 26 points. Kentucky had just six. Jaxson Robinson had zero shot attempts for the ‘Cats.

Kentucky would come out of the locker room ready to fight, scoring the first five points of the second half. Duke continued to keep the Wildcats at bay, although injuries to Maluach and Sion James came at bad times. Butler, who was playing much better to start the half, finished off an and-one that got UK within three points at the under-12-minute media timeout.

That momentum was shut down immediately with a 5-0 run by Duke. But like a see-saw, back and forth we went. A couple of made layups for Kentucky made the score 61-57 in favor of the Blue Devils with 8:29 left in the game. Brandon Garrison stepped up with back-to-back buckets, bringing UK’s deficit to within two points for the first time since there was 8:23 to go in the first half.

Kentucky kept it close, refusing to let Duke go on a big run. Going into the final media timeout, Carr converted an and-one that knotted the score at 67-67. Carr would then find Oweh for a wide-open backcut that put the Wildcats in front. The Blue Devils would call a timeout down two with 2:09 left.

The lead didn’t last long. Out of the break, Flagg converted on an and-one that gave Duke the lead right back. But Carr came right back down the floor with the same result as Kentucky regained the advantage once again, 72-70. Flagg would tie the game with 1:14 to go and had a chance to win it on the final possession, but Oweh ripped the ball away, turned down the floor, and was fouled on a layup attempt.

He hit both freebies to give UK the lead. Flagg would turn the ball over on the other end in an attempt to save Duke. Kentucky made enough free throws to ice the win. The Pope era couldn’t be off to a better start.

The Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics are about to face each other for the second time this season, but this time it is a game that counts towards the 2024 NBA Cup. One of the big question marks coming into this game was the status of Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum, who was questionable. The Celtics just revealed Tatum’s status and he is available to play, as is Al Horford.

Our own Rohan Raman gave a preview for the game tonight:

“Coming into tonight’s game, the Hawks are 9th in the NBA in PPG, 16th in FG%, 17th in 3PA, 17th in 3P%, 5th in FTA, 21st in rebounding, and 20th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 14th in points per 100 possessions, 14th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 19th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 6th in free throw rate.

Atlanta is 28th in PPG allowed, 21st in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in 3PA allowed, and 30th in 3P% allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 27th in points allowed per 100 possessions, and 27th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Although their games have been decided by a much narrower margin as of late, the Celtics have the second-best record in the NBA for a reason. They are 5th in points per game, 6th in field goal percentage, 1st in three point attempts, 11th in three point percentage, 13th in free throw attempts, 21st in rebounds, and 20th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Celtics are 1st in points per 100 possessions, 4th in effective field goal percentage, 1st in turnover percentage, 19th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 9th in free throw rate.

Defensively, Boston is 8th in PPG allowed, 12th in field goal percentage allowed, 13th in three point attempts allowed, and 7th in three point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Celtics are 9th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 10th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Given that Atlanta is down both Young and backup point guard Kobe Bufkin, Keaton Wallace now becomes a prime candidate to start at point guard for the Hawks. Atlanta simply cannot expect much from him as a scorer given that he will be matching up with the combo of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. It will be critical for Wallace to make good decisions as a passer and find Johnson/Risacher when open so that they can hit the three-pointers necessary to keep the Hawks in the game.

Speaking of Risacher, this is arguably the biggest role he has had to-date in his young NBA career. He will be relied on as a secondary offensive creator and will need to be aggressive going to the rim. Assuming that the Celtics sit Horford, it should be easier for Risacher to get to the rim and make his impact felt inside. He is currently shooting 54.5% at the rim, so the numbers have room to improve in that area. For tonight, Risacher needs to make quick decisions and limit turnovers so that the Hawks do not decrease their own margin for error. It will be a good challenge for the young wing.

One possible bright spot for the Hawks is their center play against Boston. Onyeka Okongwu was excellent in the last meeting of these two teams, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 boards. He has looked better this season as a scorer. This season, he is shooting a career-best 84% from the charity strip on a career-high number of attempts per night (5.7) and he’s converting on 74.4% of his shots at the rim (up from 74% last season). He is also drawing fouls at a higher rate when he is on offense, which indicates a heightened level of aggression as a scorer. His defense hasn’t stood out quite as much, but the potential for him to be the athletic defensive piece that he was in 2022-23 is still there.

Dyson Daniels will also need to make an impact on offense in this matchup. He is averaging a career-high four attempts from deep and has more than doubled his overall amount of attempts from 5.1 to 12.1. That’s a function of his role as a starter and he seems to have taken to the role. However, his overall shot has not been as consistent. Despite some games where the shot falls for him, he is shooting a paltry 27.8% from deep on the year. This has to be a good scoring game for Daniels if the Hawks have any chance of remaining in this one. On defense, there is little to be concerned about. He is averaging a career-high 3.3 steals per game and serves as the best perimeter defender for the Hawks. I think sticking Daniels on White as the primary defender might be a smart call, especially if Tatum is out.

Ultimately, I wouldn’t be surprised if the the Celtics give Tatum and Horford the night off, but they have not been ruled out yet. This article will be updated should that happen.”