Welt Handel System John Jackson

Werden Europawahlen die Einheit stärken oder vertiefen Divisionen von Erik Norland 21. Februar 2017 Wahlen in den Niederlanden, Frankreich und Deutschland auf den Fersen der Überraschung Die Abstimmung von Brexit könnte entweder die europäische Einheit stärken oder die Kluft vertiefen. Hedging der nächsten Explosion in High-Yield Bond Spreads Von Erik Norland 16. Februar 2017 Als die Fed Getriebe für Zinserhöhungen, jede Beschleunigung in der Geschwindigkeit der Geldstraffung könnte das Risiko von Kredit-Spreads Ballonfahren wie im Jahr 2007 erhöhen. Effiziente US-Schiefer-Produzenten Eine Herausforderung für OPEC Von Bluford Putnam 14. Februar 2017 Kann OPECs die neuesten Produktionskürzungen halten Ölpreise überflüssig Kostengünstige Schiefer Produzenten in den Vereinigten Staaten wird eine große Rolle in der Markt Richtung spielen. Futures Optionen TradingLove und Verlust Wenn ich tomahawk sage, sagst du hacken Tomahawk Die Call-and-Response bei Atlanta Braves All Star Grill auf Concourse D wird von Bar Manager Saundra Cage geführt, der seit 15 Jahren Spirituosen im Flughafen bedient und angezogen hat. Zwischen Gießen von Wein, Bier und gefrorenen Margaritas, sagt sie Shes gespielt Therapeut, mit Stammgästen verbunden und wartete auf Sterne. Hulk Hogan, Jane Fonda und der späte Whitney Houston sind die ersten, die in den Sinn kommen. Wenn ein Reisender ankommt, der schon zu viel zu trinken gehabt hat, kann Cage diese Person eine Bestellung von Pommes fügen. Wenn ein Militärdienstmitglied Platz nimmt, weiß sie, dass jemand anderes unweigerlich den Tab abholen wird. Wenn ein Kunde unhöflich ist, erinnert sie sich, dass jeder eine Geschichte hat. Cage einmal tröstete eine Frau, die fliegt, um ihre kranke Mutter zu besuchen und tröstete sie wieder, als die Frau auf dem Weg zurückkehrte, um sie zu begraben. Dann war der Reisende, der in der Nähe von Christmastime saß, mit seiner Freundin telefonisch zusammen und sagte einem ahnungslosen Kunden, dass er ihr ein Geschenk im Austausch für eine Umarmung geben würde. Eine schnelle Umarmung später, als der Mann aus der Tür ging, öffnete der Kunde eine Schachtel, um ein Paar von 5.000 Tiffany Diamant-Ohrringen zu finden. Cage lächelt und erinnerte sich an zwei weitere Fremde, deren Begegnung in der Bar noch etwas mehr wurde. Der Mann lud die Frau ein, sich auf einer Reise nach Los Angeles zu begleiten, anstatt ihre Flucht nach New York zu fangen. Als sie ja sagte, kaufte er ihr ein Ticket auf der Stelle. Hier ist alles möglich, sagt Cage. Keine Fahrkarte zu fahren Inmitten der Reisenden und Arbeiter sind die Leute, die nicht mdash besonders nach Mitternacht gehören, wenn der Flughafen ruhig wird. Polizei und Mediziner bieten Mitleid mit einer festen Hand. 12 a. m. Hier können wir ihnen helfen Unter den hellen Lichtern einer Glas-Chrom-Uhr, auf einem schwarzen gepolsterten Stuhl, schläft Mi Ja Choi, ihre beiden schwarzen Gepäckstücke vor ihr. Atlanta Polizei Sgt. Vito Wallace weckt sie sanft. Entschuldigen Sie, Mama, sagt er. Mi sitzt erschrocken auf. Shes trägt einen Nadelstreifenanzug, rote Fersen und rosa Nagellack. Sie hat ein schwarzes Auge und Prellungen auf der linken Seite ihres Gesichts. Bitte halten Sie Ihre Koffer in Ihrer Nähe, sagt Wallace, holt sie auf und zieht sie unter ihren Stuhl. Er weiß nicht, wie Mi verletzt wurde, aber Offiziere haben sie am Flughafen gesehen. Sie ist erst vor fast drei Wochen aufgetaucht, und dies ist die zweite Nacht in einer Reihe, die im Atrium des Domestic Terminal geschlafen wurde. Der Flughafen hat strenge Regeln über andere Personen als Mitarbeiter oder Passagiere, die es für die Unterkunft verwenden. Zu einer Zeit war der Flughafen zu den zweitgrößten Obdachlosen der Stadt geworden, sagen Offiziere, mit so vielen wie 100 Leuten, die hier irgendeine Nacht schlafen. Der Flughafen ist einfach für die Obdachlosen, um seine auf Atlantas MARTA Transit-System zu erreichen, die letzte Haltestelle auf der südlichen Linie. Aber dann fing die Stadt an, die Obdachlosen am Flughafen zu knacken. Offiziere tragen Kopien des relevanten Stadtcodes, der auf Brieftaschenpapier eingegeben wurde. Sie geben es an die Leute, die sie sehen, wer kein Geschäft am Flughafen hat. Unterkunft, das Gesetz sagt, bedeutet zu schlafen oder bleiben für einen Zeitraum von Zeit in jedem öffentlichen Bereich des Flughafens zum Zweck des Schlafens. Aber Wallace fragt nicht, Mi zu gehen. Er weiß, dass sie irgendwelche Schwierigkeiten hat. Sie trägt einen südkoreanischen Pass und einen Georgia-Führerschein. Sie denkt, sie könnte in Concourse verletzt worden sein, sagt Wallace. Aber sie sagt auch, sie hätte geträumt. Wallace sagt, sie könne Demenz haben. Wollte sie nicht rauswerfen, sagt er. Wenn wir das tun, wird ein Opfer. Offiziere wie Wallace patrouillieren den Flughafen mit Wachsamkeit. Inmitten von Reisenden und Arbeitnehmern sind die am Rande der Gesellschaft, die aus anderen Gründen auftauchen: für die Nacht Schutz finden, aus einer rauhen Situation entkommen oder versuchen, Gepäck zu stehlen. Der APD-Veteran hat einige verrückte Dinge in seinen drei Jahren als Supervisor am Flughafen gesehen. Wie der Obdachlose, der aus seinen Meds war und nackt durch Gepäck behauptete. Oder ein anderer, der im Atrium defekt war. Er hat auch Dinge gesehen, die ihn nach unten bringen, auch nach zwei Jahrzehnten auf die Polizei. Er kann nicht sehen, dass Mütter kleine Kinder hier mit nirgendwo sonst hin bringen. Es scheint, sie reisen, mit ihrem Gepäck und alles, sagt er. Aber sie sind nicht. Um ehrlich zu sein, Id lieber kommen sie hierher. Zumindest können wir ihnen helfen. 12:30 a. m. Eine Warnung und eine 5 Rechnung um ca. 12:30, Sgt. Vito Wallace geht zu Offizier Jeanet Franklin und ihrem Partner, Offizier Willie Arnold, der die öffentlichen Bereiche des Flughafens in den frühen Morgenstunden auf ihren T3-Elektrofahrzeugen verteidigt. Atlanta Polizei haben etwa 18 von ihnen am Flughafen, zusammen mit altmodischen Fahrrädern. Er findet Arnold und Franklin durch den US Airways Ticketing Counter im North Terminal. Sein 12:45 wenn Franklins Radio knistert. Ich habe eine 54, sagt sie. Das ist der Code für eine verdächtige Person. Die Polizei denkt, dass ein großer weißer Mann als Gepäckdieb arbeitet. Das ist nicht so ungewöhnlich. Es gibt professionelle Diebe, die um den Ankunftsbereich herumschweben und darauf warten, mit Passagiertaschen zu fahren. Bald wird eine Ankündigung über die Schließung der Gepäckkarussells in fünf Minuten gemacht. Franklin und Wallace gehen in Richtung Norden Terminal Gepäck Anspruch Bereich. Franklin sieht einen Mann, der zerzaust und desorientiert aussieht. Die Flughäfen um zu schlafen, sagt Franklin ihm. Was ist dein Name Du hast eine MARTA Karte OK. Gut bekommen Sie eins da drin Wallace nimmt seine Brieftasche und Hände Suleiman eine 5 Bill. Das letzte, was ich will, ist für ihn, hier zu bleiben, sagt Wallace. Damit wird Suleiman zur MARTA-Plattform für den nördlichen Zug begleitet. Ich gehe zur Bankhead Station, auf der U-Bahn-Systeme Nordwest-Linie. Ich habe ein komisches Gefühl, dass ich wiederkommen werde, sagt Wallace. Die Polizisten gehen nach draußen zum Bordstein, um den vermuteten Gepäckdieb zu suchen. Während des Tages, Autos sind gestaut Stoßfänger zu Stoßfänger, aber jetzt theres nicht ein einziges geparktes Fahrzeug. Es ist eine Straße Kehrmaschinen Himmel. Um 1:05 Uhr begleitet Franklin einen Verdächtigen zurück zum Flughafenbezirk. Hed hing an Gepäckanspruch für vier Nächte und hatte seine Geschichte darüber, warum er am Flughafen war geändert. Dies ist nur eine Warnung, erzählt sie dem Mann, nachdem er seinen Becher erschossen hat und seine Informationen in eine dicke weiße dreischiffige Mappe einbringt, die eine Parade von ähnlichen Verdächtigen ist. Sie sagt ihm, dass er das nächste Mal verhaftet werden wird. Dann begleitet die Polizei ihn zurück zur MARTA-Station. Das Schild an der Tür ist ein Hinweis darauf, dass der Flughafen in den Shutdown-Modus geht. Der letzte Zug fährt um 1:18 Uhr ab. Ein Mann, der nur seinen Namen sagt, wie Suleiman eine MARTA-Karte abtreibt und für den nördlichen Zug fährt. Offizier Jeanet Franklin erklärt, dass die Mappen die Leute verfolgen, die Warnungen für kriminelle Schuld gegeben haben. 1:54 p. m. Stolen Autos mdash oder nur fehlt Der Flughafen ist nicht die Szene von zu vielen Verbrechen, und diejenigen, die arent so heftig wie die Polizei in der Innenstadt zu sehen. Gelegentlich schwere Verbrechen kriecht in mdash wie die Zeit im März, als ein Gunman einen Flughafen-Shuttle-Bus entführte und von der Polizei erschossen wurde. Normalerweise sieht es aber eher so aus wie die Liste der Vorfälle, die die Detektive heute bei ihrem wöchentlichen Treffen abschauen: Ein Grill zerriss aus einem 1986 gegründeten Buick, einem gestohlenen Handy, einer fehlenden Tablette, einer Sonnenbrille aus einem Rucksack, einem Kate Spade-Geldbeutel In einem Koffer. In dieser Woche haben wir eine neue Ausgabe mit Autodiebstahl, sagt Major Lane Hagin, der den Flughafenbezirk für die Atlanta Police Department leitet. Das Rumpeln eines vorbeifahrenden MARTA-Zuges klappert sein Büro im Domestic Terminal. Bisher wurden sechs Autos von einer Mietwohnung am Flughafen gestohlen. Kombinieren Sie das mit einer berichteten letzte Woche, und seine nicht gut aussehen. Es ist immer noch unklar, Detektive sagen, ob jemand die Autos stehlen oder ein Inventarproblem bei Vermietern, die jeden Tag Hunderte von Fahrzeugen verfolgen müssen. Die Detektive sagen, dass sie Treffen treffen, um es herauszufinden. Ich schätze yall, sagt Hagin ihnen. Auch mit der Hilfe von rund 1.800 Überwachungskameras ist es nicht einfach, dass die Offiziere einen Flughafen patrouillieren, wo 58.000 Menschen arbeiten und durchschnittlich 250.000 Passagiere täglich durchfahren. Es ist eine Stadt hier drauf, sagt Hagin. Einmal suchte die Polizei für ein paar Wochen eine Katze im Flughafen. Schließlich fanden sie die Katze, Sgt. Azie Horne sagt, irgendwo unten im Gepäck behaupten. 8:15 a. m. Es wird nach dem Frühstück beschäftigt Winston Bowers ist hart bei der Arbeit an der Feuerrettungsstation 32. Hes bekam eine Pfanne mit Rührei, Bohnen, Paprika, Zwiebeln und Boden Truthahn. In einer Kochtopf-Größe hes bekam Körner. Du wirst nicht mit mir verhungern, sagt er. Hier geht es um, wenn wir essen. Danach wird es beschäftigt. Bald macht Bowers seine Ankündigung über die Lautsprecher: Callin alle hawgs in den Trog. Ein Dutzend hungriger Männer bekommen ihre leckeren Frühstücksgräber, die mit sirupigem Cranberrysaft gewaschen wurden. Die Sanitäter hatten keine Zeit, den Tisch zu löschen, wenn der Anruf um 8:51 Uhr kommt. Es ist eine Augenverletzung. Medic 3 mdash ein 10-jähriger Krankenwagen mdash zieht aus der Station. Lt. Jimmy Garner, 41, und seine Mannschaft Sgt. Yappett Scott, 38, und Feuerwehrmann Daniel Johnson, 34 Wind um die Start-und Landebahnen, wie sie für die North Terminal. Als der Rettungswagen zum Bordstein zieht, hüpfen die Sanitäter mit einer Trage und heben sich in die Polizeibehörde. Atlanta Polizei Sgt. Vito Wallace erzählt ihnen, dass er eine koreanische Frau hat, die sich über eine wirklich schlechte Kopfschmerzen beklagt. Ihr Name ist Mi Ja Choi, und sie hat ein schwarzes Auge. Scott versucht, ihre Fragen zu stellen. Hes sagte, sie spricht kein Englisch gut, aber sie will in ein Krankenhaus gehen. Die Sanitäter überprüfen ihren Herzschlag, ihren Blutdruck. Shes war schon eine Weile hier, sagt Wallace. Sie ist 62 Jahre alt. Wallace hatte sie im Mitternacht neben ihrem Gepäck im Atrium gesehen. Es ist nicht das erste Mal, dass shes die Nacht im Flughafen verbracht hat. Ist sie ein in Georgien ansässiger Garner. Sie hat Georgien Anmeldeinformationen. Sie hat andere Familienmitglieder hier, aber sie geben uns diese Informationen nicht. Sie will nicht, dass wir sie kontaktieren. Sie sagte dem Dolmetscher, dass sie von einem Auto getroffen wurde. Aber ich bezweifle, dass aus einem Auto kam, sagt Wallace von den Prellungen auf ihrem Gesicht. Garner beschließt, sie nach Atlanta Medical South in der nahe gelegenen Stadt East Point zu bringen. Es ist das nächstgelegene Krankenhaus. Es ist auch dort, wo er geboren wurde. Wiederholte Versuche, Mi oder ihre Familie zu erreichen, waren nicht erfolgreich. 10:45 a. m. Medizin oder soziale Arbeit Nach einem Stopp im Krankenhaus kehrt die Mannschaft auf Medic 3 zur Feuerwehr 32 zurück, die neben dem Asphalt in der Nähe von Concourse A sitzt. Aber um 10:45 Uhr sind die Sanitäter wieder unterwegs. Ein Angestellter an einem Taxistand hat Brustschmerzen. Manchmal muss die Mannschaft Menschen behandeln, die sich wegen der Angst des Fliegens krank fühlen. Manchmal könnte jemand sogar einen Herzinfarkt haben. Die Mediziner des Flughafens sehen höher-als-normale Fälle von tiefer Venenthrombose (Blutgerinnsel in den Venen) und Lungenembolie (Blockade der Arterien in der Lunge) im Zusammenhang mit langen Flügen. Und sie müssen auch auf die dümmsten Dinge antworten, die Dinge verpassen, die Reisende aufgeregt haben. Wenn sie einen Finger kratzten oder eine Zehenstöße anstarrten, denken sie, Oh, gut, wir können die Mediziner anrufen, sagt Sgt. Yappett Scott Einmal wöchentlich fordert jemand die Rolltreppe heraus. Die Rolltreppe bleibt ungeschlagen. Eine Person nannte sogar nasse Füße. Das ist frustrierend, sagt Lt. Jimmy Garner. Die Jungs auf der Mannschaft finden sich oft als Sozialarbeiter und Kundendienstmitarbeiter. Ein Passagier wird krank. Garner muss ihn behandeln und ihn dann beim nächsten Flug buchen oder ihm eine Fluggesellschaft oder einen Hotelgutschein bekommen. Oder manchmal muss Garner einen Patienten überreden, die medizinische Versorgung zu verfolgen. Viele Leute wollen auf die Behandlung verzichten, damit sie mit dem nächsten Bein ihrer Reise weitermachen können, also verpassen sie keinen Flug. Dennoch ist es ein harter Job, vor allem am Flughafen, wo die deutliche Möglichkeit eines Flugzeugabsturzes jeden Tag schwer ist. Von ihrer Station aus sitzen Garner und seine Mannschaft praktisch auf der Landebahn und schauen Jets ab und landen den ganzen Tag. Wenn eine Tragödie wie ein Flugzeugabsturz irgendwann passiert, ist es so schwerer, fokussiert zu bleiben. Im Mai stürzte ein Shuttle-Bus ab und verletzte 16 Personen. Es war wie zu versuchen, einen Teller mit Spaghetti zu organisieren, sagt Garner. Scott beendet seinen Gedanken. Aber du kannst die Szene nicht überwältigen lassen. Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Lt. Jimmy Garner geht auf den Asphalt. Es ist ihre Stadt 12:19 Uhr. Er muss auf seinem Spiel sein Ron Levitz schwebt in den Flur vor der AirTran Flight Lounge. Ein schmaler Mann mit dem Bau eines Distanzläufers und einem eng angeschnittenen Haarschnitt, strahlt Levitz Energie aus. Der AirTran-Pilot arbeitete einmal bei verschiedenen Büroaufträgen. Ich habe es gehasst, sagt er. Fliegen ist seine erste Liebe. Als er ein Junge war, bekam er tatsächlich Gänsehaut beim ersten Mal, als er ein Flugzeug abhielt. Aber seine Liebe in eine Karriere zu übersetzen, dauerte Jahre. Der Wettbewerb für einen Piloten Job bei einer großen Fluggesellschaft ist heftig. Der Flugplan und die Vorteile sind gut, sagt Levitz, und ein Pilot kann bis zu 200.000 pro Jahr machen. Theres auch der reine Spaß des Fliegens. Gute Piloten können nicht in dem Moment leben, in dem sie vorhersehen müssen, was in fünf Minuten oder 10 passieren kann. Theres kein Flug das ist gleich, sagt er. Jedes Mal, wenn ich in das Flugzeug komme, macht es mich denken. Es macht mich zu bewerten. Es hält mich auf den Zehen. Du hast es nie langweilig. Jedes Mal, wenn du zur Arbeit gehst, hast du herausgefordert. Hat er jemals einen engen Anruf gesehen, war nervös im Cockpit Absolut, sagt er. Theres kein Pilot, der dir sonst sagen würde. Es gibt Zeiten, in denen Sie eine Situation im Cockpit haben, wenn etwas stört oder theres Wetter-bezogene Verzögerungen, wie Schnee oder Nebel. Sie müssen wirklich auf Ihrem Spiel sein. Piloten müssen auch passen. Sie müssen alle sechs Monate strenge medizinische Untersuchungen durchführen und jährlich umfangreiche Flugsimulator-Tests durchführen. Levitz fliegt um 19 und hat keine Pläne zu stoppen. Die meisten Piloten da draußen haben eine Leidenschaft für ihren Job, sagt er. Wenn du es nicht liebst, kannst du diesen Job nicht machen, denn du bist viel weg von zu Hause und es gibt so viele Dinge, die du dir stellen musst. Er hätte es nicht anders. Es gibt einige Tage, wenn ich fliege, dass ich nur aus dem Fenster schaue und ich fühle mich wie Im der glücklichste Kerl in der Welt. 9:30 a. m. Es dauert T to Tango Mit einer Hand in ihren Müttern und die andere umklammert den Griff ihrer rosa Barbie Koffer, ein kleines Mädchen geht aus dem Zug in Richtung der T-Tore, parroting was shes nur gehört. T wie im Tango, sagt sie, und dann überspringt. T wie im Tango. Ankündigungen auf dem Plane Train Stick mit Reisenden, die von Stop zu stoppen, um zu stoppen. Für einige, darunter drei junge Frauen, werden sie kichert. Die jüngsten Hochschulabsolventen können sich nach dem Hören nicht verhalten: Der nächste Stopp ist für B-Tore. B wie in bravo B wie in bootylicious sie quieken als Antwort. Eine Frau flüstert dem Mann neben ihr zu, E wie im Echo, wie sie sich für einen Kuss lehnt. Ein junger Junge krallt seine Stirn in Verwirrung, bevor er sagt, F wie in foxtrot Als die Stimme der Flughafen-U-Bahn bekannt als die Plane Zug kann surreal sein. Fragen Sie einfach Sharon Feingold, der jetzt in Asheville, North Carolina lebt, aber hört sich, wann immer sie durch ihren Heimatstadtflughafen reist. Sie ist auf dem Plane Train sowie dem SkyTrain zu hören, der außerhalb des Flughafens zu Hotels, einem Mietwagenzentrum und einem Kongresszentrum reist. Feingold, whos in ihrer Mitte der 30er Jahre, war ein Student des späten Paul Armbruster, dessen Stimme höflich droht, Völker Autos außerhalb Delta Gepäck Anspruch zu schleppen. Der Plane Train Gig, mehr als jeder Shes hatte, verdient ihre Aufmerksamkeit in unwahrscheinlichen Orten. Ich war in einer Geek-Konvention, sagt sie, und die Leute baten um Autogramme wegen dieses Zuges. 2 a. m. Im Gepäck Anspruch, Stolz und Präzision William Talton Riemen auf ein Vakuum, das aussieht wie der Rucksack Bill Murray trug in Ghostbusters. Wer du nennst, scherzt er und ruft die berühmten Filme an. Die Referenz ist angebracht, die Gepäckaufgabe sieht aus wie eine Geisterstadt. Seine 2 a. m. und der Flughafen ist praktisch verlassen, außer für die Nacht Reinigung Crew. Eine Frau Staubsauger hinter der Airline Ticketing Zähler und eine Zwei-Personen-Mannschaft ändert Glühbirnen in Vorrichtungen hängen 20 Fuß Overhead. Talton ist dafür verantwortlich, 19 Gepäckstücke sauber zu halten. Er benutzt einen Meißel, um Gepäckanhänger, Süßigkeitenverpackungen und andere Trümmer in den Karussellklingen zu stecken. Er spritzt einen flüssigen Graffiti-Entferner auf jeder Klinge und benutzt einen Mop zum Aufräumen. Der Zitrusgeruch durchdringt die große Gepäckaufgabe. Talton Details Karussell Nr. 3 mit der Präzision eines feinen Juweliers. Jeden Donnerstag führen die Flughafenbeamten eine Inspektion durch. Hes niemals versäumt. Ich arbeitete als Kundendienst-Supervisor bei Sprint, weißt du, sagt er. Sie haben meinen Job nach Indien ausgelagert. Das war vor fünf Jahren, als die Rezession sich ergab. Talton verlor sein Haus, sein Auto. Er nahm den Flughafenjob, um Obdachlosigkeit zu vermeiden. Ich habe das aus Verzweiflung gemacht. Er sagt, er macht 7,70 pro Stunde. Das ist, was er als 14-jähriger Junge gemacht hat. Ich konnte es mir nicht leisten, Stolz in den Weg zu bringen, sagt er und geht zurück zu seinem Wischen. Der erste Flug kommt in zwei Stunden an. 560 Mitarbeiter arbeiten, um den Flughafen sauber zu halten 57,75 Tonnen Müll, im Durchschnitt werden jeden Tag gesammelt Quelle: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Internationaler Flughafen Kelley Gregory nimmt eine Pause von der Reinigung von Fußböden vor Sonnenaufgang. 2:13 a. m. Der Künstler bei der Arbeit Der Südwesten-Gepäckausgabegebiet sieht aus wie ein aufgegebener Filmset. Keiner ist hinter dem Fahrkartenschalter, und der Bordsteinverkehr draußen ist verdampft. Das Schwirren eines Bodenpuffers bricht die Stille. Bobby Williams drückt methodisch einen Propanbrenner über den Linoleumboden neben dem Eingang zum Atrium. Sein Körper ist da, aber sein Verstand ist auf seinem Glauben und Träume. Williams will seit fünf Jahren woanders sein. Er ist ein weich gesprochener Mann mit prallen Wangen. Ich möchte meinen eigenen Reinigungsservice besitzen, sagt er. Ich habe nur eine Leidenschaft für das, was ich tue Ich liebe es, Fußböden zu machen. Ich liebe es, sie zu sehen. Williams nennt sich eine Etage tech, und hes war erst seit sechs Monaten im Job. Hes immer noch gewohnt zu schlafen während des Tages und fehlende Zeit mit seinem 15-jährigen Sohn, Bobby Jr. Er sieht sich als Künstler, und der Flughafen ist seine Leinwand. Einige Besucher beglückwünschen seine Arbeit, andere gehen zu ihm herum und behandeln ihn gleichgültig. Williams Glaube führt ihn durch den Mahlen. In seinen Pausen sieht er christliche Filme auf seinem Smartphone. Er besucht die World Changers Church International, eine Megachurch im Suburban Atlanta. Hes ein Fan der Kirchen Pastor, Creflo Dollar. Hes auf die Erde, sagt Williams von Dollar. Er kommt nach Hause mit vielen Dingen, die ich hören muss. Wenn ich gehe, ist es wie ein Gespräch mit mir. Williams sagt, dass sein Glaube ihn ermutigt, an seinen Traum zu glauben. Es gibt mir Hoffnung, dass alles kommen wird, um zu verwirklichen und lehrt mich, an Dinge zu glauben, die höher sind als ich selbst, sagt Williams. Wenn ich einen schlechten Tag habe, sage ich einfach, dass es besser wird. Die Sonne wird morgen aufstehen, und alles wird passieren. Und eines Tages wird Williams seine eigene Leinwand malen. Wartungsarbeiter Frank Edmondson hält die verschiedenen Schlüssel, die er braucht, um seinen Job zu machen. 3:52 am Ich liebe es, badezimmer zu tun Anita Daniel rutscht auf ein Paar Brillen, greift mit dem Schlauch einer Vakuummaschine und rätet es in ein leeres Mensbadezimmer auf Concourse T. Sie dreht den Schalter und die Maschine rumpelt zum Leben, Klingt wie ein Schlepperhorn. Daniel hat seit sieben Jahren Bäder am Flughafen gereinigt. Seine 3:52 a. m. und shes tief in ihre 10:45 p. m. bis 6:45 a. m. Verschiebung. Ich liebe es, Bäder zu machen, sagt sie. Ich tue wirklich. Es ist friedlich. Ich bin hier allein. Auch wenn sie von Reisenden umgeben ist, kann Daniel allein fühlen. Männer werden oft ignorieren ihre Reinigung Zeichen und Barge in das Bad, während shes gibt. Sie können sehr respektlos sein, sagt sie. Ich bin eine Dame. Und ich reinige Herrenbäder. Ich habe keine Wahl, weil das meine Arbeit ist. Sie werden auf mich zugehen, und sehen mich und gehen direkt an und benutzen das Bad. Kein Respekt. Und dann sehen sie dich an, wie du in die Privatsphäre drängst. Sie hat ein Ritual, um ihre Wut zu kanalisieren. Sie erzählt den unhöflichen Männern, was sie von ihnen nach dem Verlassen des Bades denkt. Ich mache es einfach privat, sagt sie. Ich murmle einfach zu mir. Sie hat nicht diese Probleme mit Frauen. Einige der nettesten Leute sind Frauen, sagt Daniel. Sie sehen mich an und sagen mir, wie schön ein Job Im tut und danke für alles sauber zu halten. Das macht dich gut, für jemanden, der dich auf deine Arbeit beglückt. Daniels Mutter, Louise, arbeitete auch für einen Reinigungsdienst und lehrte sie, ihr Bestes zu tun. Es kann böse werden, sagt sie, aber ich bin daran gewöhnt. Ich war früher ein schwach-Magen-Person, aber sobald ich mit der Reinigung von Bädern begann, ging das weg. Die Arbeit darf nicht glamourös sein, aber Daniel sagt, es sei Würde in aller Arbeit. Ich verstehe einfach Leute, die nicht arbeiten, sagt sie. Wie lebst du als Mensch und arbeite nicht Ich arbeite seit ich 18 war, und jetzt Im 52. Im eine fleißige Person. 3:15 p. m. Göttermänner machen die Runden Frank Colladay trägt eine neongelbe und orange Weste über seine Tweedjacke. Auf der Rückseite sagt es Kaplan. Um 3:15 Uhr beginnt er einen langen Spaziergang zum Konzert D. Hier spielt er die Rolle des guten Samariter und sucht Reisende in Not. Er muss entscheiden, wann man fragen muss, ob jemand Hilfe braucht. Manchmal ist es ein harter Anruf. Er will nicht eindringen. An diesem Tag nähert er sich einem Passagier, der verloren geht. Shes versucht, herauszufinden, wie man zu Tor D23 zu einem Flug nach Charlotte, North Carolina und dann nach Rom zu fangen. Komm, sagt er, folge mir nach. Colladay ist aus dem Ministerium zurückgezogen, obwohl hes noch ein Pastor emeritus in Dahlonega Presbyterian Church, etwa 90 Minuten nördlich des Flughafens. Jeden Mittwoch fährt er hinunter, um in der Flughafen-Kapelle zu helfen. Der Chefkaplan, Chester Cook, sagt, dass die Arbeit nicht so viel über Glauben ist, wie es um Kundendienst geht. Vor ein paar Wochen hat Cook geholfen, Greyhound-Tickets für vier junge Freunde zu kaufen, deren Auto beschlagnahmt wurde. Ein anderes Mal kam ein Arzt herein, um ihn zu sehen. Im ein reicher Mann, sagte er zu Cook, aber meine Brieftasche wurde gestohlen, und ich brauche 38, um mein Auto aus dem Parkplatz zu holen. Andere haben ernstere Probleme. Vielleicht sind sie auf dem Weg zu einer Beerdigung. Oder suche Schutz vor dem Flughafen wegen häuslicher Gewalt. Für die 58.000 Flughafenangestellten ist die kleine interreligiöse Kapelle im häuslichen Atrium ihre Kirche. So wie sich die Soldaten besser fühlen, wenn sie einen Pfarrer im Fuchsloch sehen, finden die Angestellten und Passagiere des Flughafens die Kapelle als Zuflucht an einem Ort mit viel Chance für Angst. Ich sah eine ältere Frau vor einem AirTran-Counter, der einmal weinte, sagt Cook. Sie hatte Angst vor dem Fliegen. Früher im Sommer beschäftigte er sich mit dem Selbstmord eines Passagiers im Internationalen Terminal. Sein Büro ist neben dem USO, und er spricht oft mit Soldaten, die unter Kampfstress leiden. Wurde nur die Oberfläche gekratzt, aber Koch sagt. Wir helfen 10 oder 15 Personen am Tag. Es gibt 150 mehr, dass wir nicht helfen Der Flughafen ist so groß. In Colladays erste Schicht am Flughafen, half er einer Frau, die in ihre Heimat China zurückkehrte, um ihren Pass zu erneuern. Er musste U. S. Chinese und Delta Air Lines Bürokratien navigieren. Es war genug, um diesen Pfarrer zu machen. 8:12 p. m. Hes verfluchte sich Er erzählt den Leuten, ihre Augen auf ihr Gepäck zu lenken. Er schildert sie über die Einstiegsfolge. Er befiehlt ihnen, ihre müden Knochen abzuholen und zu einem anderen Tor zu schleifen. All das lästige Sachen, das ist mir, sagt Tony Messano von Alpharetta, Georgia, dessen Stimme in Delta-Terminals auf der ganzen Welt zu hören ist. Seine 8:12 Uhr und Reisende nach Buenos Aires werden zu einer Tor Ankündigung von Messano behandelt. Flug 101 mit Service nach Buenos Aires, seine aufgezeichnete Stimme erzählt jeder, verlässt die Halle E wie im Echo, Tor 8. Messano macht seit 25 Jahren Stimme über die Arbeit. Hes aufgezeichneten Zahlen, die Namen von Zielen und Torbriefen, so dass jede Variation zusammen auf einem Computer zusammengesetzt werden kann, um die notwendigen Ankündigungen zu machen. Er sagt, er hat sich verflucht, als seine Stimme ihm sagte, er solle sich für einen Torwechsel bewegen. Und er hat das Stinkauge von seiner eigenen Frau bekommen. Sie waren im Seattle-Tacoma International Airport und saßen an ihrem Tor mit einem netten Gespräch, als seine Stimme aufhielt. Sie gab mir einen Blick wie Stop, der mich unterbricht, sagt er. Und ich bin so gut, aber ich bin nicht ich. In diesen Tagen wird seine Stimme für den Einsatz mit ähnlichen Technologien in der New York City U-Bahn-System getestet. Wenn er diesen Job landet, sagt er, ich stelle mir vor, dass es eine Menge Fluch und Schreien an der Spitze meiner Lungen statt der sanften Stimmung, die ich für Delta mache. Messano, ist aber nicht der einzige, der Ankündigungen in Delta-Terminals macht. Bei wechselnden Toren richtet eine weibliche Stimme Reisende an. Es gehört zu Susan Bennett von Sandy Springs, Georgia, der früher die Stimme des Plane Train war. Sie kam in diese Arbeit in den 1970er Jahren durch Zufall. Sie war ein Jingle-Sänger, zeigte sich für einen Job, und das Voice-over-Talent war eine No-Show. Bennett, der noch singt und in einer Band ist, wurde gebeten, sich auszufüllen. Jetzt ist ihre Stimme bei Delta-Toren weltweit zu hören. Sie kann auch in Werbespots, auf GPS-Systemen und auf Firmentelefonsystemen gehört werden. Bennetts größter Anspruch auf Ruhm In Amerika ist sie die ursprüngliche Stimme von Siri, der Apple iPhones virtuellen persönlichen Assistenten. CNN enthüllte Bennetts Alter Ego früher in diesem Herbst. Ich lerne mit mir selbst sehr viel, sagt sie. Ist sie jemals an sich selbst geschrien Nein, antwortet sie. Ich will meine Gefühle nicht verletzen. 9:45 Uhr Großer Bruder weiß, wo du geparkt hast Das Ende eines langen Tages für Laura Wilt ja, der Nachname ist in der Tat wie eine sterbende Blume geschrieben und jetzt in Panik geraten. Sie kann ihre Parkkarte nicht finden und hat keine Ahnung, wo sie ihr Auto heute Morgen verlassen hat. Ihre Mutter erlitt einen Schlaganfall und sie stürzte nach Tampa, Florida, um mit den Ärzten zu sprechen. Jetzt ist alles, was sie tun will, nach Dallas in der Vorstadt von Paulding zu fahren. Wilt überprüft die Taschen ihrer königlichen blauen Skinny Jeans. Sie schaut in ihre Brieftasche. Überprüft die Fächer ihres Tragens. Wilt wird immer besorgt, wenn die Hilfe auf einem Segway ankommt. Der Fahrer ist Timothy J. Watkins, Betriebsleiter für Höflichkeitsfahrzeuge und Shuttlewagen. Er und zwei Dutzend Angestellte kreuzen herum und helfen den Menschen, ihre Parkplätze verloren zu lassen. An einem Ort mit mehr als 30.000 Räumen passiert das etwa 400 Mal im Monat. Sie geben auch etwa 500 Sprung-Starts pro Monat. Watkins hat eine Salve von Fragen für Wilt: Wann kam sie herein Was Autobahn hat sie genommen Welches Los hat sie geparkt. Sie erinnert sich an ihre Auto-Tag-Nummer Es gibt eine Methode für diesen Wahnsinn. Der Flughafen hat ein System für die Lenkung von Autos in die Langzeitparken A, B und C Lose. So wissend, welcher Tag Wilt angekommen war, könnte eine Ahnung geben. So können die Kameras, die das Nummernschild jedes Autos fotografieren, das die Lose betritt. Trucks mit Kameras fahren auch um jeden Abend herum und fotografieren die Tags auf geparkten Autos. Also, wenn Sie Ihre Registrierung haben oder Ihre Tag-Nummer kennen, kann Ihr Auto im Computer gefunden werden. Wilt macht noch einen Durchgang durch ihren Besitz. Sie entleert den Inhalt von zwei Taschen. Oh, warte, schnappt Wilt entfesselt eine Seitentasche in ihre Handtasche und sicher genug, da ist es: ein rosa Ticket. Der Shuttle-Busfahrer Ron Dellingham bringt sie direkt zum Lose. Ihre graue Sonate ist in § 19A geparkt. Laura Wilt ist auf dem Heimweg. Hope and suspense 11:59 p. m. Ein Zeichen der Liebe John Mann sinkt neben einem Mülleimer in den Rücken des abgesperrten Ankunftsbereichs und fummelt mit seinem Handy. Der Verkehr floss besser als erwartet, und jetzt steckt er mit der Zeit zu töten und wartet mit einem leuchtend orange Poster auf seinem Schoß. Willkommen zu Hause Susie, sagt es, mit I Herzen U kritzelte in einer Ecke. John traf zuerst Susie, als sie 9 Jahre alt waren und in einer Schulproduktion von Alice im Wunderland spielten. Sie war Alice. Er war die Cheshire-Katze. Jahrzehnte später und ein Kontinent auseinander, sie wieder auf Facebook. Sie haben jeden Abend gesprochen und dann am Wochenende einander besucht. Sie zog nach Seattle, wo er lebte. Er schlug ihr am Super Bowl Sonntag im Jahr 2010 vor und hängte ein Zeichen über den Kamin, der sagte, Willst du mich heiraten Sie sagte ja. Sie sind jetzt verheiratet, und sie hielten sich lange auseinander. Susies waren weg von ihrem suburbanen Atlanta-Haus für nur einige Tage und half ihrer Mama, nach Houston zu bewegen. Aber John weiß, dass es eine harte Woche war, und er will sie lächeln lassen. Diese Art von Moment spielt zu allen Stunden in den weltbesten Flughafen. Inmitten der Eile, das Chaos, der Fluss des Fußverkehrs, gibt es erwartete Wiedervereinigungen, gefürchtete Abschieds - und menschlichen Austausch mdash große und kleine mdash während Leute warten. Susie hatte schon immer jemanden gedacht, um ein Zeichen für sie am Flughafen zu halten. Aber John hatte nie den Mut. Sie ist eine ausgebildete Sängerin und Schauspielerin, diejenige, die wirklich weiß, wie man auf der Bühne leuchtet. Er ist ein Software-Entwickler mdash mehr von einem hinter-die-Szenen Kerl. Aber gestern hat sich John entschieden, dass er sich dort hingelegt hat. Ein Satz von Glitter und Klebestiften und ausgeschnittenen Buchstaben später, hier ist er. Es war einfach, er sagt, aber durch den Flughafen zu gehen, war es nicht. Leute starren. Er vermeidet die Blicke und schaut auf sein Telefon. Um 11:45 Uhr prüft er online und sieht, dass Southwest Flight 51 gelandet ist. Er springt in Position und pflanzt sich an der Vorderseite des Ankunftswartebereichs. Er stößt mit einer Hand auf das Schild und starrt auf die Rolltreppen, die täglich Passagiere an Passagiere bringen. Seine fast Mitternacht, aber, und die Rolltreppen früher mit Menschen gepackt jetzt rollen meist leer. Theres ein Mann in einem Anzug, ein Paar, die verloren schauen, aber kein Zeichen von Susie. John schaut wieder an sein Telefon, dann blickt er in der Ferne auf einen leeren Geschenkladen. Plötzlich stürzt ein Meer von Menschen die Rolltreppen auf. Susie tritt ab und wandert nach rechts und scannt die verstreuten Klumpen von Menschen vor ihr. Sie sehen keine vertrauten Gesichter, sie wendet sich nach links und geht ein paar Schritte vorwärts. Das helle Orangenschild fängt ihr Auge, und sie hält in ihren Spuren. John sieht anders aus. Aber in einer Angelegenheit von Sekunden treffen sich ihre Augen. John blinkt ein Cheshire-Katzen-Grinsen. Er steht auf und sieht stolz aus. Sie geht auf ihn zu und strahlt. Ich habe dein Zeichen gemacht, sagt er. Ich liebe dich. 5:49 p. m. Warten im Stil Nachdem sie ihre Verbindung zu Omaha, Nebraska verpasst hat, lässt Joanne Ford los, was sie nicht kontrollieren kann und in einen Spa-Stuhl sinkt. Der Geschäftsreisende, der im Gesundheitswesen IT arbeitet, ist jede Woche unterwegs. Dieser Tag begann um 8:30 Uhr in Rochester, New York, und sie hat Stunden zu gehen, bevor sie schläft. Aber wie der nahe gelegene Geschäftsmann, dessen Gesicht in einem Massagesessel gepflanzt ist, lernt es, das Beste aus ihren oft ausgedehnten Zwischenräumen zu machen. Erste Maniküre und Pediküre bei XpresSpa ist Teil des Bohrers. Es ist nicht so, als hätte sie Zeit, sich zu verwöhnen, schließlich, wenn sie in Honey Creek, Iowa, nach Hause kommt. Warum nicht im Flughafen Colin Lam, wo Ford Nägel, hat in diesem Shop auf Concourse A für mehr als ein Jahr und eine Hälfte gearbeitet. Er sagt, er spielt oft Psychiater, im Gespräch mit Kunden über alle möglichen Ausgaben Job Leiden, Beziehung Snafus, Sie nennen es. Feuerzeug Geplänkel, vor allem angesichts der Menschen-Beobachtung der Flughafen bietet, wendet sich oft an Mode-Kritik. I just saw one today and said, Wow, says Ford, shaking her head at the memory of the traveler in 6-inch heels and a tight cougar-skin dress. Then she stood up and I said, Wow. And then she fell out and I said, Wow Another traveler, getting his feet rubbed one seat over, leans back and smiles. A woman fully reclined in a chair around the corner, getting her temples massaged, appears to be in a blissed-out slumber. People come in in a sour mood, and once they leave their whole disposition has changed, Lam says. We love bad weather. 7:45 p. m. Welcome home, Holly Planted in the arrivals lobby, a banner and loved ones await Holly Houston, 31. For a year and a half shes been in Brisbane, Australia, on a Christian mission with Operation Mobilization. Her mothers camera phone is poised, ready to capture the daughter shes missed as she comes up and off the escalator to see them. Next to her parents are friends from childhood, high school, church and college. All of them crane their necks and hold their breath, scanning the faces of travelers as they stream in. Finally, they release a collective squeal as she runs into their arms. 12:04 a. m. First-time jitters Kunyu Harun Henu is slumped over in a blue padded seat, 8,000 miles from home. He started flying 25 hours ago mdash and still has another day to go. The journey might unsettle any traveler. But for Henu, a 39-year-old pastor from Kiserian, Kenya, the problem is nerves. This is his first time flying. The planes trembling during takeoff is what first got him. The man sitting next to him sensed his fear. This is normal, he told Henu. Planes rattle during takeoff, and sometimes they hit turbulence in the air. After he explained, I was OK, Henu says. His plan was to fly from Nairobi to London, then Atlanta, then St. Louis before finally heading to Missouri State University to start his masters degree in religious studies. The whole trip was supposed to take about a day. But after a nine-hour layover in London, a problem with a passenger forced a two-hour delay on the tarmac. And that delay caused Henu to miss his connecting flight in Atlanta to St. Louis. Thats why he finds himself almost alone in the middle of the night in Atlantas massive new International Terminal. He cant fly to Missouri for another eight hours. Other travelers might have grown agitated by the snafus. Not Henu. No airline is immune to problems, he says. In life, people expect everything to be perfect. Thats human nature. When theres a problem, they want someone to blame. But things happen. Granted, Henu is exhausted and barely able to lift his eyelids. But he refuses to sleep. Who knows what could happen to his belongings mdash one big suitcase full of clothes and a smaller suitcase packed with books So the first-time flier sits and waits, making small talk with the occasional passer-by. 9:15 a. m. Happy any hour There are many ways to drive a person to drink at the airport mdash at any hour of the day. But under Georgia law, the person can only buy that drink after 9 a. m. Monday through Saturday, and after noon on Sundays. People are sitting here before 9 a. m. just waiting, says Atlanta Hawks Bar Grill bartender Brooke Hunnings. Its 9:15 a. m. and a man and his brother are having breakfast. Another man has already bellied up to the bar for a Bloody Mary. Sisters from Bogota, Colombia, wait for their connecting flight to visit family in Canada after spending three hours in customs. 10:20 a. m. Headed north, armed with tradition Chad Spicer is the kind of guy who thinks nothing of wearing cowboy boots, a hefty belt buckle and silver jewelry through airport security. I just take it all off and shove everything in a bag beforehand. But I usually need four to five trays to get everything through, he says, laughing. Hes also the kind of guy who looks completely at home sitting in a bank of empty chairs at gate C21, wearing a pair of dark aviator sunglasses while munching on a foil-wrapped Chick-fil-A breakfast sandwich. An artist and graphic designer, Spicer splits his time between New Orleans and a farm just over the state line in Mississippi, where several other artists live and work on their own projects. Each piece of art he wears has a story. His belt buckle bears a javelina in relief, recalling his childhood pastime of boar hunting. Its a family tradition on his fathers side, which includes Choctaw and Cherokee roots. An ex-girlfriend made him the silver ring with a druse meteorite stone. He lost it once at New Yorks LaGuardia airport, but someone turned it in. When he called to inquire about it, the person on the phone said he knew someone was going to want it back, and sent it to him free of charge. His older brother made the brown and white bracelet from carved wood and bird bones. Theyre close, and now that his brothers children have left for college he has more time to spend with Spicer, which is what brings him to Atlanta today. Hes connecting through Hartsfield-Jackson from New Orleans on his way to Minneapolis, where his brother lives. Theyve got a big hunting and fishing trip planned in northern Minnesota up toward Canada. Theyll use every scrap of whatever they kill, just the way they did growing up in rural Louisiana. 2:15 p. m. Flight-ready faces Its that time of the day when its relatively slow at the MAC cosmetics store in the new International Terminal, allowing employees a chance to try out new products and hone their skills. Today, theyre practicing layering effects with new eye shadow colors. Most of the time, people wander in to kill time without anything particular in mind, says the store manager, who declines to give her name, citing company policy. Other times, people pick up items they forgot. Do they get a lot of business Yes, she says. Youd be surprised. 6:15 p. m. Tending the flock Tim Ferrill, 33, gingerly navigates his way through the crowded gate at A29. Hes on crutches, his right leg in a brace. The torn ACL mdash courtesy of a soccer game played with his five brothers in Birmingham, Alabama, where his family was just visiting mdash makes this days journey more complicated, especially for his 28-year-old wife, Jodi. Theyre awaiting their second flight of the day, this one to Denver, and they are far from alone. In the area along the wall that the familys claimed, Jodis doling out single French fries to their five young children, with the fluidity and calm instincts of a mother bird. All under age 8, the two youngest sit in the bulky stroller, the one she loads up with all the stuff Tim cant carry. Small backpacks are scattered about, the responsibility of the older three kids, who are accustomed to pitching in. I know how to fold shirts, pants and shorts, boasts Seth, 4, before spinning around and squawking for another fry. With such a large brood, the Ferrills have a system. They face challenges one at a time, pack light and pray a lot, says Jodi. One thing that makes this easier is we home-school, adds Tim. The kids are used to being together. Theyve been on the road for nearly three weeks now. Once they arrive in Denver, theyll stay with friends for two days before road-tripping back home to Southern California. Weve got a 15-passenger van, Tim says. Room to grow. 2:20 a. m. For the love of a son Denise Sardinha wasnt supposed to be here, sitting all alone in front of gate F10 in the middle of the night. She should be asleep in her San Francisco home, getting ready to send her 7-year-old son, David, to his first day of school in the morning. Instead, she is 2,400 miles away, waiting to pick up her boy after a booking mishap sent her scrambling across the country. He was visiting his dad in the middle part of Brazil, says Sardinha, who is also Brazilian. Because hes 7, hes not supposed to have a connecting flight. Sardinha thought she had resolved that problem by paying a 100 unaccompanied minor fee, but after she booked she found out that Delta wont allow connecting flights for children under the age of 8 traveling alone. So she had to take two days off work from her housecleaning business and jump on a four-hour flight to Atlanta to meet her son and accompany him to San Francisco. David, meanwhile, had to miss his previously scheduled flight and wait another day. I wasnt happy at all. He starts school tomorrow, Sardinha says. Then I felt better flying with him to San Francisco because that made him feel more secure. Shes been sitting at the Atlanta airport for five hours, with another three hours to go until she sees her son. Before this trip, the longest shed gone without being with him is two days. Now, its been two months. She passes the time watching clips of the recent MTV Video Music Awards on her laptop. And behind the weary look on her face is the excitement of a mother who cant wait to embrace her little boy. 10:29 a. m. Father, son and an awkward bro-hug The middle-aged man wears a Columbia T-shirt, a shoutout to the university in New York. He looks at his son, whos heading off to college. The tall young man with the full head of curly hair wears a preppy collared shirt decidedly not like his dads. He looks at his father, a little unsure of what will come next. The father leans in and gives his son an awkward bro-hug. The young man turns bright red. Extended family stands around watching while his mother stands off to the side. Youll do well son, an older aunt says to him. We know you will, were proud of you, she calls after him as the young man snakes his way through the maze toward the security checkpoint. He tries not to look back. 7:35 p. m. The lure of those little noses Four grandsons await the arrival of Gayle and JB Franklin. A fifth grandbaby a girl is on the way. The Franklins son and daughter-in-law and their kids, all under 7, live in London. In a few hours, the couple from Lilburn, Georgia, and their six big honking suitcases, filled mostly with clothes for the children, will start their trip across the pond. Gayle and JB, who are in their late 50s, will visit with family in London, then fly to Italy, then head back to London before coming home. They figured three weeks straight would be too long to stay with their sons family. Like fish, wed start to stink, says Gayle. But right now, anticipation is building. She smiles broadly, thinking about their arrival and all those little noses pressed against the third-floor window. 11:15 a. m. Compassion mdash and a shared smoke Travel often brings people together in ways they wish they hadnt experienced. But at least Chiara James now knows that airline employees can be helpful. She had to miss her flight to find out. The single mother from Atlanta is traveling with her 7-month-old daughter and elderly mother. A necessary diaper change for the little one meant they arrived at gate D1A for an AirTran flight to Detroit moments after the door closed. And that door, despite her pleas, stayed closed. The gate agent whose job is to watch the plane push back from the jetway learned her story after he returned to the terminal. What he heard frustrated him. They pick and choose who they want to let on, says the agent, a contractor for Southwest and AirTran who didnt want his name used. It frustrates me because it happens all the time. He rebooked James and her family on the next flight to Detroit at 3:15 p. m. with assigned seats, not just on the standby list. Then, he escorted the family to Concourse C and joined James in the smoking lounge while her mother and daughter waited outside. Its just stressful, James says. But its good to know some people care and are willing to help you. 9:12 p. m. Three-shot friends Poor Brad. The guys been sitting in Buffalo Wild Wings Grill Bar for five hours. Five hours The New Yorker missed his connection to Indianapolis. With hours to kill, this spot in Concourse D seems as good as any. Earlier, it served as a makeshift office for a few hours, but he went off the clock. Thats when the boyfriend-girlfriend team of Zach Sperry and Kelsey Smith walked in. They came to grab a quick bite and a drink before heading off to Florida, but then Brad happened. Weve had three shots together Sperry announces from a corner of the bar. Thats what brings people together. Were new best friends Brad says, as they all laugh. Theyve only been here an hour and a half. Ive been taking attendance since Ive been here so long. 9:30 p. m. Heaven must wait As passengers pour off the escalators into the arrivals lobby during a busy night-time rush, Nar Lungali leans on an empty luggage cart, picks up his phone and starts dialing. She is not coming today, he says, talking with one family member after another. The case aide waiting with him from the International Rescue Committee just told him his older sisters flight from Chicago was canceled. The hot meal waiting for her in nearby Clarkston, known to some as the Ellis Island of Georgia because of the large number of refugees who land there, will have to wait. Fried chicken and rice. Delicious, spicy food, he says mdash the kind of meal that will make his sister feel at home, even more than 8,000 miles away from their native Bhutan. It was only two days ago that she called from Kathmandu and told him she was moving from Nepal to America with her husband and two sons. She was so excited, he says. He could hear it in her voice. Hes excited, too. He hasnt seen her in more than two years. He cant wait to talk to her about how old friends left behind in the Beldangi 2 camp in eastern Nepal are doing. Tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees live in Nepalese camps. But nearly 80,000 have left in the past six years as part of a resettlement push to move them into better living conditions. Now mdash finally mdash his sister is among them. And hell come back to the airport tomorrow to welcome her. Standing here, watching passengers stream by, he remembers the day he first came to Atlanta more than two years ago on a flight from New York after leaving Nepal. The memory of the airport is still fresh in his mind. So many people, he says. He smiles, thinking of the way his life began to change that day, the way his sisters life will change now, too. For him, the difference between life in the United States and Nepal is clear. Its just like heaven, he says, and hell. How it works Theyre the invisible part of the airport, rarely seen but making it tick: They clear planes for takeoff, track storms, handle baggage, fuel aircraft and make sure that package you ordered online gets to your doorstep on time. Once you meet them, youll never look at an airport the same way again. 1:30 p. m. Feeding the beast Mike Ryan chomps on a stick of gum and clicks his pen as he keeps an eye on the Airbus A319 heading for Atlanta. Its Delta Flight 1767 arriving from Flint, Michigan. Ryan cant see the jet. Its just a blip on his screen in a dark, curved, windowless room 30 miles from the airport. Ryan is one of two dozen air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administrations Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON. They sit at radar consoles, their faces bathed in an eerie green glow. The Airbus is one of more than a dozen planes Ryan is tracking. Controllers here handle planes that are 4 to 40 miles from the airport. Theyre part of an intricate network that keeps air traffic moving mdash and part of the huge behind-the-scenes effort that keeps Atlantas airport humming. From controllers and ground crews to baggage handlers and a cargo cowboy, not a single jet could get off the runway without their help. If the nearby Atlanta FAA Center, which handles the entire region, is the highway of the sky, then TRACON is the offramp, guiding traffic to the parking garage mdash the traffic control tower at the airport. At least thats how the controllers here describe it. Even within TRACON, the controllers have different roles. Today, Ryan is the feeder, slowing planes down, lowering their altitude and handing them off to another controller, known as the final mdash who hands them off to the airport tower. A self-described aviation junkie, Ryan saw a newspaper ad years ago about qualifying for air traffic control training. He took the civil service exam, which led to a 22-year career path from the Bay Area to Southern California to Cleveland and, five years ago, Atlanta. He says he fell into it mdash and fell in love with it. Within 30 seconds Ryan issues directions to five pilots flying hundreds of passengers. Delta 1767, descend and maintain 7,000, Ryan says in a clear monotone. Two seconds later, he calls another A319, this one flying in from Little Rock, Arkansas: Delta 1733, descend and maintain one-two-thousand. Next an Air Canada jet: AC 4940, descend and maintain 7,000. In no time, Ryan goes back to Delta 1767, to tell the pilot to use another frequency to reach the final, whos sitting at a radar screen next to Ryans. The final will guide the plane to within 4 miles of the runway before handing it off to the airport tower. Contact Approach 1-2-7-point-2-5, Ryan says. Schönen Tag. Inside the Federal Aviation Administrations Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON, Ken Hunihan monitors the systems that air traffic controllers use, including radar antennas and communication towers. 9:35 a. m. On top of the world Brian Wilante scans the room, then the horizon. A gentle wind is blowing from the northwest. Every few seconds a low rumble rises from below as an airliner throttles into the sky. Wilante is nearly 400 feet above the runway in The Cab mdash the top of the tallest air traffic control tower in North America. It offers a one-of-a-kind, 360-degree view of taxiways and runways laid out in sprawling ribbons. An 8-by-10 paper tacked to a console reads Todays forecast, followed by a big yellow smiley face. It feels to Wilante like this day will be on the light side, but its hazy. He can barely make out the white roof of the Georgia Dome, home of the Atlanta Falcons, 10 miles away. As a kid, Wilante cherished his Matchbox airport set and die-cast toy planes. Now, the veteran air traffic controller is surrounded by the beeping and humming tools of the profession. Hes one of more than a dozen men and women controlling the planes mdash and passengers safety mdash each shift. Theyre the chief guardians of all airspace within 4 miles of the airport, up to 4,000 feet off the ground. No shift here goes as planned. Every day includes five or six emergencies mdash from minor mechanical problems to in-flight heart attacks to infant births. Controllers here can quickly make a hole in the landing order, pushing a flight to the front while coordinating with paramedics on the runway or at the gate. At the center of it is supervisor Murray Storm, sporting a headset above his graying mustache as he hands out job assignments. What do you have Wilante asks. Storm issues Wilante his gig: directing takeoffs on Runway 1028, Atlantas newest. Stepping toward a console, Wilante puts on a headset and begins a carefully controlled procedure before taking over the runway. Wilante gets a briefing about which planes are about to depart, where theyre going and what commands the pilots have already gotten. After the handoff, the previous controller watches Wilante for two minutes to make sure he understands everything. Many of the pilots Wilante handles fly in and out of Atlanta frequently. They know his thick New York accent, if not his face. Theres a familiarity between the pilots and controllers, Wilante explains. Wilante radios his pilots on the airfield below mdash setting up for departure, guiding them on the runway and green-lighting each for takeoff. Wilante times the departures so the planes have a safe distance separating them after takeoff: 3 miles for most airliners, 5 for the larger ones. AirTran Flight 382, youre cleared for takeoff. Less than a minute later, the Boeing 717 is wheels up and headed to Baltimore. 4:40 a. m. Cans, tugs and dots Megan pulls into the FedEx facility amid the howl of aircraft engines and the tart smell of jet fuel. Megan is a plane. An MD-10, to be precise, FedEx Flight 1703 from Indianapolis. Every plane in the companys fleet is named after an employees child. Its a competitive process every time FedEx gets a new plane, employees can submit their childrens names. The winner is chosen by raffle. Megan may be distinctively named, but in other respects shes an average member of FedExs 670-strong fleet. And the system of unloading the plane is a well-practiced procedure. Even before the engines wind down, a giant lift makes its way up 30 feet to the airplanes cargo door. One by one, giant containers cans are rolled from the plane onto the lift, lowered to the ground and placed on a flatbed dolly pulled by a tug. From there the cans are rolled into FedExs 285,000-square-foot facility, their freight unloaded onto conveyor belts. (The floor is speckled with wheels and convex dots mdash ball bearings in the floor mdash making it easier to push around the cans, which can weigh 5,000 pounds.) From just looking, youd never know the variety of items on board. Its box after package after cardboard crate, each with an identifying label, heading to destinations all over Georgia. About 20 employees sort packages, load them into another set of containers and move those onto 18-wheel trucks mdash some headed just to the other side of the airport, others more than 100 miles away. From there, the containers are broken down again, their packages put on the familiar FedEx vans and sent out to offices, homes and businesses. By 5:20, the first trucks holding Megans freight pull out. 5:15 a. m. Move em on, head em out His name is Alfonzo Ward Jr. but everyone calls him Cowboy. Hes even listed that way in the FedEx directory: Alfonzo Ward Jr. (Cowboy). The name comes from his bowlegged stance. Every time a loaded truck pulls out of the FedEx facility, Cowboy hops in a cab and puts an empty trailer in its place. He does this 30 or 40 times a shift. If backing a trailer into a spot sounds hard, try doing it at a sharp angle in the rain. Cowboy has little forward space to work with, and so far this year Atlanta has gotten more than 50 inches of rain, well above average. But Cowboy knows how to do it hell celebrate his 30th anniversary with FedEx in November. You have to count on your own expertise in getting the trailers in the dock, he says. As soon as the driver pulls out, we have to get that trailer back in in a timely fashion so they load the next trailer. One key time is 6:24 a. m. Thats when all the freight has to be processed and the sorting lines shut down. Why not 6:25 What difference can one minute make A lot, says Kerry Mason, senior manager of ramp operations. After all, overnight packages are promised to arrive by 10:30 a. m. Say you got 800 carriers and they all leave a minute later, thats 800 customers who are going to be dissatisfied if they get it there by 10:31 instead of 10:30, he says. That one minute makes a big difference. At 6:24, the facility gets quiet. The hum of the conveyor belts has stopped. The chock-chock sound of cans rolling from place to place is diminished. Many employees have left. Of the four flights that landed this morning, only Megan is heading right back out: Shes being loaded with cans full of mail. (Yes, the U. S. Postal Service subcontracts to FedEx.) She takes off for Memphis at 7:30. The rest of the planes will sit on the tarmac until nightfall. Thats when trucks will arrive from all over Atlanta full of tomorrows packages mdash which will be sorted, loaded onto planes and sent into the air, ready for the whole process to begin again. 9:25 a. m. Building a brick wall Its not even 9:30 in the morning and already the sweat is beading up on Scott Lottis shaved head. Lotti, 40, is a ramp agent for Southwest Airlines, hoisting bags onto a conveyor belt that sends them into the belly of a plane headed for Austin, Texas. Another ramp man in kneepads scrambles inside to stack and secure them. Its a game of Tetris every day, says Lotti, wearing shorts, a gray T-shirt and an orange reflector vest. You got to kind of think of it like building a brick wall. Once a plane pulls up to a gate, Southwests ramp agents have about 30 minutes to unload and reload it before the plane heads off again mdash forcing them to work with brisk precision. The best parts of the day are being outdoors and enjoying the easy camaraderie with crew members. The worst parts are the sudden, unexpected dangers. Lotti says one co-worker was killed when he drove a cart into a planes propeller. Another was struck down by lightning. Then there are the superheavy bags, the obese, leaden kind that one man can barely lift without help. Lotti has seen bags tipping the scales at more than 100 pounds mdash twice the weight most airlines will tolerate before punishing passengers with extra fees. Southwest ramp agents must be able to lift 70 pounds. During the hiring process, theyre asked to lift a heavy bag if they cant, they dont get the job. Sometimes you wonder what people pack in these bags. You really do, he says. The worst offenders College students. Theyve got all those books in there. Lotti, not pictured, is a burly man and played football in high school, but like a lot of ramp agents he wears a back brace at work. He strained a disc in his back earlier this year. Other ramp agents have injured wrists, shoulders, knees. Its an unforgiving job if you do it wrong, he says. Ramp agents are acutely aware that they work under the watchful gaze of passengers peering out from windows or gates. We live in a fishbowl, Lotti says. Were surrounded by eyes. It keeps you on your task. 8:45 a. m. My first responsibility Michael J. Maier winds his way beneath the Boeing 777. As the co-pilot on Delta flight 110 to Los Angeles, its up to him to do an extra preflight safety check in addition to the one done by a mechanic to make sure everything is up to snuff. The captain is in the plane already, programming the flight computers and briefing the crew. Maier, the first officer, will soon join him. He looks at the engines to confirm that there are no oil leaks or nicks on the blades. He stands before the nose-gear well and examines the landing gear. The tires look good. The hydraulic lines are leak-free. The lights are in working order. Maier began his career as an Air Force pilot in 1982. He flew A-10s during the Cold War and was there when the Berlin Wall came down. After leaving active duty, he joined the Reserve before retiring from the Air Force. Hes been flying for Delta since 1991 and has been piloting the Boeing 777 for the last seven years. On his tie is a small commemorative pin, issued by the Air Line Pilots Association. It says, In Memory 9-11-01. God Bless America. He says he never flies without it. It reminds me that my first responsibility is the safety and security of the passengers and flight crew. 9:38 a. m. Cheers for a nervous newbie Sirprena Spearman is at the wheel of a tug. She only learned to drive it a week ago mdash now shes getting ready to push a plane back from the gate for the first time. Spearman is a ramp worker for Southwest. She started running bags for AirTran in 2005, but with the Southwest merger, all ramp workers are now required to handle every job. I was so excited to learn new stuff, she says. The pilots know shes a trainee and are patient as she rolls them back, a trainer at her side. It takes her a few minutes longer than an experienced driver, but she gets the Boeing 737 onto the taxiway by 9:43 a. m. mdash ready for the pilots to turn on the engines and move under the aircrafts own power. Soon it will be in the air bound for Seattle. As Spearman climbs out of the tug, shes greeted by cheers and applause from a dozen co-workers. I was so nervous, yall she says, happily accepting their hugs. 11 a. m. Boxes dont talk A thousand arrivals and departures. 640 workers. 500,000 square feet of space. 250 live animal shipments a day. 437 million pounds of cargo a year. To say Deltas cargo facility stays busy is an understatement. The airline handled 32 of the airports total 2012 load of 646,481 metric tons of cargo, making Delta the airports largest cargo carrier. Nothing stays in place for long 60 forklifts are always in motion, sorting pallets by destination: Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Paris. Sometimes, though, a shipment doesnt make it. Thats where Shantay Small comes in. Her job is to figure out what went wrong mdash and where. It requires a lot of detail work. I go back and see what happened mdash if it was returned back to the shipper, or if it was something that needs to be rescreened, if there was no space on the aircraft so we had to rebook it I find out exactly what happened to get it moving, she explains. Small started as a passenger gate agent and moved to baggage service before coming to cargo. She prefers the freight side of things, she says: Its a little more flexible, a little less demanding, and not as, ah, contentious. I like to tell people, Boxes dont talk. 4:30 p. m. Keeping his eye on the blob Its a warm, sunny afternoon in Atlanta, but theres a problem on Fred Brennans screens: A blob of showers is affecting airports in Boston, New York, Washington and other cities across the Northeast. For all the sun here, that blob has been giving pilots headaches since early morning. Its really bogged us down, says Brennan, a meteorologist for Delta. Even though the rain is dissipating, were still trying to recover from it. While Brennan keeps an eye on the Northeast, his cubicle neighbor, Bill Thull, watches Atlanta and the Midwest. The two contribute regularly to Deltas five-day weather outlook, released every morning. Updates come every six hours and include red flags for flight paths around the world. Their forecasts are highly detailed, predicting exactly when and where storms will occur, down to the hour. Just a few feet away, dispatchers use the forecasts to tweak flight schedules, fuel orders and routes to avoid the upcoming weather. Delta says its the only U. S. airline that has a meteorology staff to create its own forecasts. Like a virus, flight delays due to the Northeastern blob spread across airports, including Atlanta. Passengers miss their connections, and when the weather clears, the resulting traffic surge in the Northeast will create extra work at their destinations later. Meteorologist Bill Thull follows developing weather in Atlanta and the Midwest. 8:32 p. m. Ups and downs An hour ago, Toney Frank was reminding his crew this is Founders Day mdash UPSs 106th birthday. In two days, if all goes well, his team will hit another milestone mdash 30,000 safe workdays mdash which will call for a party. Frank asks his crew members what theyd like to grill. Steak, they reply in unison mdash before bursting into laughter. The Atlanta air division manager shakes his head. What is steak he asks. Chopped beef. If they hit their goal, they plan to celebrate with burgers. For now, theres work to be done. His starting call is the cue: Dozens of workers in yellow vests begin to zip between planes. Semis arrive. Armored vehicles pull up to the jets with high-value cargo, better known as cash. Most nights, four UPS planes fly out of Atlanta three to Louisville, Kentucky, and one to Philadelphia. Its a small operation compared to the hub in Kentucky, but the pressure is real. Sometimes they carry something special, like live whales or terra-cotta figures most nights its mail, flowers, floor samples, lobsters whatever comes in from Atlantas workday and has to be somewhere fast. Packages are tagged, secured, weighed and collected in massive containers designed for the 757s, A300 and monster MD-11 that UPS is flying tonight. It takes this team 45 minutes to load an A300 scheduled to depart at 9:56 p. m. But with less than an hour to go, some packages arent on site yet. This is why you get this right here, Frank says, rubbing his bald head. This is pushing it, but hey, thats what we do. Some of the containers are being hoisted onto the empty jet. One by one, theyre locked into place. At 9:39 p. m. the final topside container heads up. A crew pushes it over the jets rolling-ball floor, and for the first time, the yellow vests glowing on the dark ramp halt. At 9:41, the container comes back out. Something is wrong. At 9:42 p. m. it sinks back down, away from the plane. At 9:46, the cargo door closes without the last container aboard. Glitches are real, says night manager Mark Ballman, but theres always a backup plan. In this case, the bottom of the container popped out just enough that it couldnt be locked into place. If its not secure, it wont fly. The crew couldve swapped containers or tried to fix this one, but they mightve missed their flight time. He had to make the call, and he decided this container could catch a later flight. So at 9:50, the captains paperwork is validated, and the door is shut. The plane pushes back at 9:52, four minutes early. But soon it returns. The captain realizes paperwork needs to be revalidated. This 9:56 flight is finally in the air by 10:15. One down, three to go. At 10:31, the second flight pushes back, and a little brown truck from somewhere in Atlanta whips into the facility. Theyre not done yet. 3:36 a. m. The Plane Train takes a nap This is one of the few hours when the sweltering tunnel is relatively quiet. Usually its a nonstop blur. As many as 11 trains mdash each consisting of four 18-ton cars mdash shuttle about 235,000 passengers a day from terminals to concourses to baggage claim and back in a matter of minutes. For now, the Plane Train is down for its nightly inspection. Thats when workers scour 4 miles of track for loose fixtures, faulty doors or the occasional cell phones, Barbie dolls or car keys dropped between platforms and trains. One woman left 5,000 of camera gear on the train, says Steve Poerschmann, the citys director of automated people mover systems. We have a very close relationship with airport lost and found. One crew inspects switches and valves that send the trains in different directions. Twenty-seven switches like this are inspected daily, Poerschmann says, gushing over the system like a proud father. Its more than just a horizontal elevator. Meanwhile, another worker shoves wooden objects between train doors mdash first a square stick, then a cylindrical rod. Hes testing various objects to make sure the proper sensors react in case anything say, an arm mdash gets stuck in a door. Still, Poerschmann says, the train has a reliability rate of more than 99. Pity the traveler who tries to walk from ticketing to Concourse F. The journey can take more than 30 minutes. The Plane Train isnt just a passenger convenience. It means the airlines get their flights out on time, too. Airlines schedule their connections based on the transit time between connections, Poerschmann says. The airport couldnt operate without the Plane Train. Echoes of war Sniffing and seizing 12 a. m. Light em up, up, up At the worlds busiest airport, people whose jobs involve searching, sniffing and seizing are at work every hour of the day. Some sift baggage for contraband others use dogs to find explosives. And out on the airfield, folks like Geoffrey Gaskin check for burned-out lights, dangerous debris and too much rubber on the runway. Its midnight. Gaskin talks into his two-way radio: Tower, this is Airport Whiskey 4-5. Please step the runway lights to step four. In a flash, Runway 8L26R lights up like a Christmas tree. Huge X signs lit by bright white lights flash on at each end of the runway, a warning to pilots that it is closed. And Gaskin, a senior airside operations supervisor, begins his slow drive down 9,000 feet nearly two miles. He inspects the center line of lights first, then makes another loop to eyeball the lights on the edges of the runway. Every light out here means something, he says. Two-thirds of the way down the runway, the lights change from white to red and white mdash a signal to pilots that theyre about to run out of landing space. With 2,000 feet remaining, the lights change again, to cautionary amber. Across the airfield, a total of 17,466 lights ensure safe takeoffs and landings. Gaskin and his colleagues consider this the big leagues after all, these runways are the premier field in the aviation game. Tonight his inspection reveals just two lights out, which he notes on his clipboard. The Federal Aviation Administration allows no more than 10 of each light system to be out. The agency requires U. S. airports to inspect airfields before the first flight of the day. Since the air traffic only slows down but never really stops in Atlanta, lights are inspected just after midnight and a search for junk on the runway (Foreign Object Debris or FOD, as its called at the airport) is done at first light. In between, Michael Giambrone arrives at Runway 8L in a yellow Saab hatchback transformed into a rubber friction-testing machine. With airplanes landing at speeds about 160 mph and then braking, the arrival runways collect a good amount of rubber. And too much rubber can keep aircraft wheels from properly gripping the pavement. The friction test must be done every other week, but removal is required only when two 500-foot sections drop below the required friction levels. Thats about every four to six months. Chemical treatments and broom-equipped trucks used for snow removal get the job done. 6:22 a. m. The longest (and wildest) flight The sky is still dark as Delta Flight 201 taxis toward gate F8. This Boeing 777, the second-largest plane in Deltas fleet, has just arrived from Johannesburg, completing the longest nonstop flight in the airlines global network. Large cans filled with priority bags are the first to come off, followed by the rest of the baggage and cargo. At the back of the plane, items checked at the last minute mdash bags and strollers, mostly mdash ride down a conveyor belt with pets that traveled as cargo. Dazed-looking dogs stare from behind carrier crate bars. Then come the guns. Its hunting season in South Africa, and judging by the number of high-powered rifles moving down the conveyor belt, quite a few passengers aboard this flight were on the prowl. Timothy Square is one of the men unloading the weapons, and he explains that they will be driven to customs and, for security purposes, put in the glass room off the international baggage claim lobby. Serial numbers will be checked to ensure they match passengers customs declarations. Then hunters will be called inside to claim their guns. You should see them. They look into the glass room like deers themselves. Square laughs as he holds his hands up, as if theyre pressed against glass, and opens his eyes wide in imitation. But what if the traveling hunters actually killed something Where does that stuff go Square shrugs. It beats him. Another worker chimes in: Hes heard that people pay big bucks to put their trophies in cargo. We gawk at a stack of large wooden boxes, many marked fragile, and wonder whats inside. Customs officers check the serial numbers of weapons that arrived on a flight from Johannesburg. About 40 to 60 weapons are cleared by customs at Hartsfield-Jackson on a typical day. 6:36 a. m. A search goes bust A customs officer pulls a pair of white metal bottles from a Texas womans luggage. One look at the label tells him this could get interesting. A naked man is pictured embracing an equally naked woman, her breasts conveniently obscured by his cupped hands. Macho Potenciador Sexual the label says. Its a Colombian aphrodisiac, but customs officers suspect it might contain something even more stimulating mdash narcotics. Traveling back from a trip to Colombia on a ticket purchased recently with cash, the woman has drawn the officers attention as a possible drug smuggler. Shes relatively small, they note, but rather busty. They wonder if shes hiding drugs in her bra. The officer, who asks not to be identified, places a few ampules of the aphrodisiac in a plastic pouch, then crushes them. The substance comes back clean. Its nothing more than the sex aid the label claims, but officers still arent satisfied. The whole story doesnt add up, says Stephen Kremer, director of Customs and Border Protection for the Atlanta port. A female customs officer is summoned to take the passenger to a private area for a more thorough search. It turns up nothing. She really is just busty. They clear her on to Texas. A customs officer authenticates passenger passports and visas. A customs officer displays a close-up of a fraudulent U. S. visa. 11:06 a. m. Symphony of movement In the vast Delta cargo facility, Quatian Allen, who goes by Q, gives Zera a command in German. Shes a German shepherd, after all. The TSA officer is testing her bomb-sniffing colleague. Zera zooms ahead, spinning and jumping, as Allen calls out commands in a singsong voice. The dog zeroes in on a pallet of boxes, circling it again and again. Then she homes in, planting her rump on the floor, announcing shes found the bomb test device. Suddenly calm, intent, Zera waits for her reward a black chew toy. Just a few minutes earlier, another dog, Sandor, was bounding away with his own Kong toy mdash a reward from Officer Davarone Jackson mdash after the Belgian Malinois found the test material. It may seem chaotic to a viewer, Allen says, but its a symphony of exact movement to me. 7 a. m. Scavenger hunt on the runway Normally its the job of professionally trained airport operations teams to inspect the airfield every day for foreign objects. But once a year other employees are invited to grab a pair of gloves and a trash bag and walk one of the airports five runways. Its called the annual Foreign Object Debris, or FOD, removal walk. Kevin Fuzell, an airside operations supervisor at the airport, is out on Runway 1028 when the walk begins at 7 a. m. Aircraft are like large vacuum cleaners, he explains, and debris sucked into the engines can cause everything from minor to catastrophic damage. You find everything out here. Flashlights left in wheel wells. Bolts that come off carts. An aircraft ran over a fox on a runway once. He grimaces remembering the mess. The runways are mostly debris-free this morning. Fuzell spots a red-tailed hawk overhead. Theres a lot of grass out here, he says, which means theres a lot of wildlife here every day. The red-tailed hawks come in search of rabbits. Sometimes he spots Canada geese. He points to a red tube near the runway. Its a bird cannon that can be set to blare at intervals to scare the birds off. (Birds and aircraft engines arent a good combination.) The FOD walk ends with a small haul: a handful of pebble-sized rocks found on Runway 1028, and small pieces of metal mdash ball bearings, springs and washers mdash pulled from the pavement joints on the South Cargo Ramp. Participants stretch before the Foreign Object Debris walk. 7:40 a. m. Body scrub or body blast A suspicious jar is found in a black suitcase bound for Miami and beyond. Could it be an explosive If youve ever opened your bag after a trip and found a note from the TSA saying its been searched, the search happened in a room like this one in the basement of the North Terminal. With bright fluorescent lighting, stainless steel examination tables and workers wearing latex gloves, this TSA baggage-screening room has the feel of a laboratory. This morning, nine officers paw through bags containing items that raised a red flag out in the general screening area. Over and over, they slide the bags off conveyor belts and onto the stainless steel tables, zip them open and poke around. An X-ray screen shows them what to look for. Usually, its a bottle or jar of some substance mdash Pepto-Bismol, say, or mulberry juice. Damon Mason, a wiry man in his mid-30s, unzips the black bag on its way to the Cayman Islands via Miami. He pulls out the suspicious item in question mdash a jar labeled shea sugar body scrub mdash and swipes it with a small swab. He then feeds the swab into a tabletop machine, and it comes back as positive for a potential explosive. Mason calls in his supervisor, who summons TSA explosives specialist Carlos Serrano, a 22-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Departments bomb squad. Serrano brings a portable electronic scanner and checks the body scrubs ingredients against a database of known explosive materials. This time, the test is negative. The bag is repacked and sent on its way. Just looking at it, I knew it wasnt an explosive, Serrano says. But its always good to double-check. An explosives detection system in the baggage security facility. The machine scans every piece of checked luggage to ensure its not carrying explosive materials. About 13 million checked bags are screened by the TSA annually at Hartsfield-Jackson. 7:41 a. m. Seeds of doubt Customs Officer Arrisia Sims pours a pile of fragrant Indian jeera, or cumin seed, onto a piece of white paper. Shes looking for evidence of Federal Noxious Weeds mdash FNW, to those in the know. As she sorts the tiny brown seeds, she thinks of what she could cook with them. But her eyes are peeled for tiny interlopers. She immediately separates out two seeds that dont belong. The cumin is all thrown out, joining a pile of seized beef, a bag of red fruit that smells like a dirty diaper and a head of lettuce that gave up a micro-sized bug whose identity stumps even the customs inspectors. All of it was seized this morning all will go into a grinder for destruction. Customs officers will conduct 151 agriculture inspections on this day. Officers write up what theyve found and send it along to Customs and Border Protection in Washington and to Agriculture Department officials for analysis. Their observations could lead to warnings to other inspectors about what to look for, or even prompt new bans on agricultural products brought in on flights from around the world. Sims, who studied plant science and biotechnology at Fort Valley State University, never dreamed shed work for a law enforcement agency. But, she says, she loves the job now that shes here. It does have one big drawback: She knows too much now about nasty diseases and pests lurking in the food supply. Going to the grocery store isnt the same anymore. 9:04 a. m. Who let the dogs out Where are the dogs Andre Sims crew has been waiting all morning for the dogs to show up to sniff stacks of cardboard boxes bound for Las Vegas. Time is running short. Its 9:05 a. m. and the flight is supposed to leave in less than an hour. Time for Plan B. The humans at the Southwest Airlines cargo center will have to step in for the canines. So pause the Avengers DVD in the break room. Hold off on the lunchtime cookout. Sims team of five begins processing the boxes through a machine known as an Explosive Trace Detector. They swab the sides of each box, feed the rectangular swabs into the machine and await confirmation that everything checks out. In just 10 minutes, the boxes are on their way down an ergonomically designed conveyor belt. At the other end, they are loaded onto Cart No. 22, a high-speed tug piloted by Oliver J. Long. He heads for gate D5, which should take 17 minutes, give or take a minute or two to flash his badge or wait out a blast from a jet engine. Long pulls up, right on schedule, to a teal and white AirTran plane and hands the boxes over to a man in an orange vest. Sims watches closely as each box is carried onto the front of the plane and secured. By 9:40, the last package is onboard. By 9:44, the cloth door is fastened shut to hold the boxes in place. This cargo is good to go, with 11 minutes to spare. Suitcases and duffel bags are still chugging up the conveyor belt at the back of the Boeing 737-700. Can this flight possibly make it out by 9:55 Sims shrugs: The freight did. 10:19 a. m. Nigerian Versace Its a heaping pile of luxury. Items with the best brands: Hugo Boss. Kenneth Cole. Versace. Hermes. Suits and coats and jackets and purses collectively valued at many thousands of dollars. Its all counterfeit. A clutch of Customs and Border Protection officers stands around the clothing and accessories, which have been laid out on a crate in the main warehouse of Deltas expansive cargo facility next to the International Terminal. The swag came in from Lagos, Nigeria mdash an automatic tip-off, says one officer. They just dont make these items in Lagos. Customs is a regular visitor here. Each day, officers study manifests and follow leads, keeping track of the countless goods coming in to the United States. They maintain a handful of vans with X-ray equipment, not to mention a K-9 unit to sniff out various banned, illegal or unfamiliar substances. Although drug seizures and terrorist threats get the big headlines, some material simply violates intellectual property laws. Looking at the counterfeit clothes, its easy to joke about it as the sort of thing that ends up being sold on Manhattan street corners. But the damage goes far beyond a companys trademark mdash or the humiliation of a fashion victim whose stitching comes unraveled at the first drop of rain. After all, a Hugo Boss suit or a Hermes bag can fetch hundreds or thousands of dollars. That money ends up in some criminal pipelines, says customs Officer Gladys Summerville. Its one of the ways that terrorists are funding their organizations and their missions, Summerville says. 6:49 a. m. Please dont pet the customs officer The 297 people just off the long flight from Johannesburg are waiting for their luggage. And Vince is making his rounds. Vince, as in Vince Dooley, says his partner, customs Officer Christyne Scofield, referring to the legendary University of Georgia football coach. Vince is a beagle, and Scofield is his handler. This beagle is serving his country, but hes not a bomb dog. And hes not into drugs. Vinces niche is agriculture. He sniffs bags for hints of produce and other items banned from the United States. Vince is Snoopy-cute. Travelers want to pose with him for photos. He might be the most popular customs officer in the airport. No petting, Scofield warns. Hed just want to sit there all day, she says. Vince ambles up to a blue bag dangling from Tammy Birkmires hands. He sniffs, then again. Hes found something. Whats in the bag Scofield asks. Its a giraffe bone, says Birkmire, who is from Pennsylvania. Its art, she explains. Thats allowed, Scofield says. Birkmire and her giraffe bone are free to go. 11 a. m. Waiting for the worst The five officers on the Atlanta Police Departments Bomb Tech Squad are busy training the fire departments emergency personnel at an off-site location. What happens if an explosive device goes off How do you get the 95-pound Kevlar suit and 25-pound helmet off an injured bomb tech Its like fileting a fish, says Officer Michael Payne. Theres an art to it. Payne likes to use food analogies. He loves to cook and had thought seriously about becoming a chef before he won a football scholarship to the University of West Georgia. No regrets, though. His experience as an offensive lineman mdash learning plays and practicing them over and over again mdash is paying off in his current job. Payne, otherwise known as Goob mdash only his mother calls him Michael mdash looks like an offensive lineman: Hes 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds. He works out for an hour and a half a day at the gym on the first floor of the pyramid-shaped building the bomb squad occupies just outside the airport. He tries to elevate his heart rate to 170 beats a minute to condition it for the time he spends inside the bomb suit defusing a bomb. If youre used to performing at a higher heart rate, it helps control the anxiety, he says. Payne hasnt had to tackle a real bomb at the Atlanta airport mdash not yet, anyway. But he practices twice a week to keep up his skill level. The training bombs are inert, but Payne insists its very much like dealing with the real thing. He wont give details but says, you know when you mess up. His real salve is humor. Payne and his colleagues have known each other for years. They eat together, they blow up bombs together and they laugh together. You have to, Payne says. You need levity for such a heavy job. Asked to describe his work, he answers: I like to pick things up and put them down. So far today, there has been no need to call in the bomb squad, a good thing for everyone. But its only 11 a. m. The day is young. Payne guesses its a million-dollar loss every time the airport comes to a standstill. But he is prepared with 8,000 hours of training behind him. In June, the airport evacuated part of Concourse D after an electrical explosion near gate 21. The bomb squad rushed over to check it out. The Army green suit looks menacing but really, says Payne, if there is a powerful explosion, the suit basically keeps your body together for a funeral. Its just like any other policing tool, he says. It has limitations. So why do this job I believe in good versus evil. 12:06 p. m. The bug beat One of the better places to be at high noon on a hot, muggy August day in Atlanta is the U. S. Department of Agriculture inspection room in Deltas cargo facility next to the International Terminal. Cargo in the form of food or medicine arrives in temperature-controlled boxes called Envirotainers and gets special attention as it makes its way from a warehouse cooled by giant fans to the chilled inspection room. Once there, officers take samples, looking for pests, diseases and other organisms that could contaminate the U. S. food supply. On this day, officers are scrutinizing shipments of avocados and breadfruit from Jamaica, roses from Ecuador. The crops are ultimately headed for Newark, New Jersey. One officer occasionally squints through a microscope while another beats on the flowers to shake loose any insects. What if they set free some kind of horrific bug Could cargo turn into Contagion Parris Hawkins, chief of agriculture for Customs and Border Protection, brushes off such concerns. Its the potential, but its small, Hawkins says. A lot of bugs we get are like your Coleoptera, your Lepidoptera. That would be your beetles, your butterflies and your moths. 6:40 p. m. The daily grind Ginep. Mangosteen. Guava. Eggplant. Nance fruit. Ginger. Jocote. Grapefruit. Watermelon. These arent the offerings of some international supermarket. Theyre seized produce, destined for Customs and Border Protections grinding machine. Some items that need more inspection get sidelined to a nearby U. S. Department of Agriculture laboratory. Bigger items mdash beef, sugar cane or bags of food banned from coming into the United States mdash are hauled away. Everything else goes through an industrial kitchen grinder in a back room in the International Terminal. Tonight, agriculture specialist Lauren Lewis does the honors. Its 6:40 p. m. just past suppertime. Slipping on black gloves, she takes each piece mdash garlic, onions, rambutans, carrots and more mdash and feeds it into the whirring machine. With that, what might have been someones post-flight snack is reduced to mush. All in the name of safety. Life of one plane In hand: 12 boarding passes. The assignment: Fly AirTrans busiest plane from the busiest concourse out of the worlds busiest airport. One plane, six flights, four pilots, six flight attendants, 555 passengers, 1,864 nautical miles mdash and two reporters. As dawn breaks in Atlanta, an immigrant from Chile is arriving at the airport with her daughter to go see family in Memphis, Tennessee. A man in Minnesota is on his way for a vacation with a boyhood friend. A woman is headed to Florida to catch a flight for her sisters funeral in New Jersey. A young family prepares to spend the weekend at the National Sweetcorn Festival in Illinois. All of them will be transported on the same plane this day. They dont know each other, and their paths wont cross. But collectively, they tell the story of a global society on the move mdash and connections made in the sky. One jet, six legs 2:24 p. m. On board Name . Lillian Eversly Lillian Eversly was among the first passengers to board, but Eversly would prefer not to be making this journey. Right now, Im very emotional. Im going home to Trenton, New Jersey, to bury my sister. It was a sudden heart attack, so its not a pleasant trip for me. There were six brothers and sisters. Eleanor Culbreath, 69, was the second to pass. Lillian and Eleanor would take turns visiting each other. One year, Eleanor would come to Brunswick, Georgia, to stay with Lillian the next year, Lillian would visit her older sister in New York, where she lived. Their family home was in Trenton, where her sister will be buried. We were very, very close, she says. I feel a tremendous loss and void and hurt. The two didnt visit this past summer. When they last spoke by phone, they talked about their children and grandchildren. Eversly pauses, gathers her thoughts. I didnt expect to be going home for a funeral, but such is life. 2:24 p. m. On board Seats . 30A, 30C, 30D, 30F Names . Steven Spahn, Brittany Norris, Kyle English, Jessica Woodrum Ages . 23, 25, 27, 29 Brittany Norris is a bit jittery. I love flying. I just dont like the takeoff and landing portions. Shes surrounded by three friends, helping ease her anxiety. Theyre headed to Boston for a few days after finding cheap round-trip tickets. They met at a church near Floridas Atlantic coast, but theyre not exactly holy rollers, says Jessica Woodrum. Their main agenda: beer, baseball and lobster rolls. Thats all you need out of a vacation, right she says. Its not like were looking to go get wasted in the streets. Beer is wonderful Steven Spahn agrees. Yep, if we can end on that, thats perfect. Kyle English is looking forward to a game at Fenway Park. I finally get to unplug, he says. As the plane begins its final descent, Brittanys nerves kick in. A smiling Kyle motions that the jet is about to take a nosedive. A few minutes later, safely on the ground, the interior lights begin flashing for no apparent reason. Oh, my God, is this the Twilight Zone Brittany asks. 2:24 p. m. On board Job . Flight attendant Name . Shay Sanders Shay Sanders traded in a job at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for flying in June 2004. Its been a life-changing experience, traveling and seeing the world. She had worked for United Airlines after high school for almost four years before moving to the insurance field, where she spent a decade. Once you work in the travel industry, she says, you get hooked. The travel industry makes you gravitate towards it. 4:22 p. m. Leg 5 6:30 p. m. On board Name . Linda Clemons A body language expert, Linda Clemons is headed to Palm Beach, Florida, for a black enterprise conference. She travels 20 days a month, and planes offer her opportunities for research. Ive got a world of people to be able to be my case studies, just to look at, and I love it in real time, Clemons says. When Im flying, Im just like a child at the holidays. Can a plane serve as a metaphor for our global society No matter where we are in the world, she says, the emotions are the same fear, surprise, happiness, sadness. But its so interesting to see how its displayed on a plane. Among her clientele are salespeople, lawyers, girlfriends, boyfriends or spouses trying to read their significant others. I have folks invite me over to be a human lie detector. Quick with a smile and a laugh, Clemons explains one of her tricks: I watch couples. I can always tell, if theyre sitting beside each other, if theyre in love because the way they sit will form a heart. If there is dissension or stress, I can see that. 6:30 p. m. On board Job . Flight attendant Name . Trina Holden Passengers tell her all the time she looks like Rihanna. Trina Holden has been a flight attendant for 14 years. She was aboard a Continental jet from Newark, New Jersey, to Los Angeles on September 11, 2001, when news of the terrorist attacks came. She was in the bathroom when her crew members knocked. I was like, Can I get a moment of peace They were told something had happened to planes in New York and that air traffic control was doing its best to find a place for their plane to land. They eventually touched down in Omaha, Nebraska. Ill never forget it, she says. Flying has definitely changed after that. It will never be the same. But at the end of the day it definitely beats sitting in an office doing a 9 to 5. I know that this is where I need to be. 6:30 p. m. On board Job . Flight attendant Name . Cherrie Providence A flight attendant for seven years, Cherrie Providence has been mesmerized by air travel ever since she was 10 and boarded a plane from Trinidad to New York City a stay that ended up being permanent. I wouldnt trade it for anything. Air travel, she says, brings us together. Because here it is, were in this tube and Im pretty sure if we were to do a survey, wed have people from all walks of life. Air travel has enabled the world to come together as one and to take you to different parts in such a short space of time. 11:20 a. m. How to greet a woman Vladimir Danaila holds a large bouquet of bright-colored flowers wrapped in red paper. He and his mother are waiting in the arrivals area for an old family friend theyve known for decades. The last time they saw her was six years ago in their home country of Moldova, more than 5,400 miles away. Where I come from, if you are meeting a woman, it doesnt matter if shes a girlfriend or not, you bring flowers, he says. Sometimes you dont even have money for the next meal. You always have to buy flowers. 5:36 p. m. The traveling pink box The bright pink signature box he carries makes Brian Setzler pop out against the muted backdrop of an empty Delta baggage claim carousel. The traveler has been getting attention for the loot all day. I walk through the airport and people are like, Oh, Voodoo Doughnuts he says of the hot spot in his hometown, Portland, Oregon. Inside the box are treats for the 20-year-old daughter hes come to visit, whos interning in a law office in Atlanta this summer. Lucky for her, the handmade doughnuts actually made it past salivating travelers. 8:32 p. m. Getting runway-ready Irene Atkins spends her time at ATL surrounded by bras, panties and body shapers. She works at the Spanx store on Concourse E. She likes to watch the wide eyes of travelers who gawk in the windows as they stroll by. But the shoppers who come in mdash her favorites being the older, seasoned set make her day. Her job is to help them feel good about themselves. She tells the story of one woman who strolled in, having never tried on Spanx before, and insisted on diving into the heavy-duty equipment, the super-slimming items worn by Hollywood stars mdash which can be a struggle to put on. Atkins knew this wouldnt go well, but the customer needed to find out for herself. I hear her in the dressing room saying, Help Help Atkins remembers. And she came out crying, Why do we women do this to ourselves Atkins says she was standing ready, armed with words of comfort and an age-friendly, less intense, body-shaping answer. 3:25 a. m. Finding peace and sleep Anna Rebmann arrived hours earlier with a mission: to find sleep. The atrium didnt work it was too noisy. A sign for the surely quiet Interfaith Chapel one floor up gave her hope, but it was closed. Then she spotted a security guard dozing on a bench by an elevator. If that area was good enough for him, it would be good enough for her. With the bike lock she always brings with her, she tied her two pieces of luggage and a guitar together so they would be hard to swipe. And then she settled in. Her wait is long. The Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, native arrived from Baltimore at 9:20 p. m. Her flight to London via Toronto doesnt leave until 11:30 a. m. So shes made herself comfy, a square cotton pillow beneath her head and a magenta cloak draped over her like a blanket. She couldve booked a hotel room, but she didnt want to bother. Whats a night in the airport when youre heading off to Europe for four months 1:40 a. m. Free parkings worth it A burst of people pours out of the MARTA station. Ollie Locklear Jr. and his wife, Lori, have come from Cedartown, Georgia, about 75 miles northwest of the airport. Locklear used to work for MARTA, and among the perks of retirement are free rides and parking at stations. So the couple always drive to the closest MARTA station to their house and take the train to the airport. Never mind that they had to catch one of the last trains of the night, putting them at the airport a full four hours ahead of their flight. Were going to see our new grandbaby, Lori Locklear says of their 5:45 a. m. US Airways flight to San Diego. So all this is worth it. 8:47 p. m. One more glimpse and a prayer A woman stands behind the main security checkpoint in the Domestic Terminal, craning her neck. She wants to watch her daughter and grandchildren for as long as she can. Theyre flying home to Richmond, Virginia, and that makes her nervous. You cant never be too cautious nowadays, says Ann, 65. So I sent them a prayer. Ann is heading back to Richmond, too. But shell travel by bus. Shes made the trip that way many times. I aint never thought about flying. Its faster, I guess. But I like sightseeing, she says. I guess I just feel more comfortable on the ground. Past the ropes, the TSA desks, the conveyor belts and body scanners, she can still see her daughter and grandchildren. They step onto the escalator and disappear. Only then does she walk away, stealing one more glimpse over her shoulder. 5:13 p. m. Mothers mdash and fathers mdash little helper As boarding announcements for a flight to Paris begin in the International Terminal, a mother serves up spoonfuls of pink syrup to her kids and her friends kids. Its Nausicalm, an over-the-counter drug to prevent motion sickness that like Dramamine can also cause drowsiness. Her husband laughs, admitting that they might be doing this more for themselves than for the four children. We were just discussing how much medicine to give the kids so they sleep on the plane, Jean-Marc Alfassa says, his French accent thick. As the two families make their way to the gate for their long flight home, Alfassas 4-year-old daughter, Camille, and her 3-year-old friend, Manon, bounce along. They hold hands and giggle not yet feeling what will soon hit them. Manon and her brother Tom, 5, pass out before takeoff. Camille soon follows. But Alfassas son Louis, 6, has other plans. Unfortunately, I have to say that the onboard entertainment was stronger than the syrup, Alfassa says later. Next time Louis will be treated to a double dose. 10:55 p. m. The price of perks The upside of working for a Delta Air Lines subsidiary like DAL Global Services Free flights. The downside Flying standby means Trevor Joseph, 27, is in for a long, long night. He arrived from Belize City nearly six hours ago. And itll be another eight hours before he can catch a flight to New Yorks LaGuardia airport. So with his red in-flight Delta blanket draped over him, he hunkers down, splayed uncomfortably across a bunch of seats at gate A19. Im not mad. I had an option to buy a ticket, he says, brushing his dreadlocks from his face. Ill just talk on the phone till I get sleepy. He pops in his earbuds and settles in. He doesnt have a lot of company, but hes certainly not alone. A family has claimed a corner several gates down, the children already sound asleep. 2:15 p. m. Off to DragonCon Young newlyweds Richard and Kristen Faith stand near the North Terminal baggage carousel looking travel-weary but relieved to be reunited with their bags. After all, you cant pick up a battle axe just anywhere. Theyve flown in from Albuquerque, New Mexico, via Houston on Southwest Airlines so they can attend DragonCon, the annual gathering of geek culture. Their luggage is full of costumes including a replica of an axe wielded by a character from Fray, the Joss Whedon-penned comic book which explains the six checked bags, plus two carry-on backpacks. Armed with what they need, the couple steer their laden cart toward the curb, a taxi and anticipated DragonCon glory. 8:06 a. m. Carrying faith home A pack of clean-cut and strapping young men dressed in ties and black suits is hard to miss. As soon as you catch a glimpse of the nametags pinned to their jackets each begins with the word Elder mdash theres no mistaking who they are: Mormon missionaries. For two years theyve dedicated their lives and energies to serving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a rite of passage in their community. Now the men are on their way home to Utah. Some were in Salta, Argentina, the others in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Understandably, theyre excited but anxious about returning home. You wonder things like, is Facebook still cool anymore I asked my sister and she said, No, not really, says Elder Parker Jared Harmon, 21. Keeping up with family in the Internet age hasnt been too hard, but otherwise theyve been in their own worlds. Being a missionary is tough at first, but you get the hang of it after a few weeks, says Elder Greg Santi, 21. Before long, youre hitting your goal of six baptisms a week. Before they board, they graciously pose for a picture and offer to share some information about their faith. 9:50 a. m. Dressed for comfort Shauna Byrnes and her friend Ginger Cassidy both claim theyre dressed for comfort for their flight to the Dominican Republic resort town of Punta Cana. Laid-back and casual, Cassidy is wearing sweat pants and sandals from Target. With her dyed red hair, nose-ring and tattoos snaking up her neck and down her arms, Byrnes shops from a different aisle. Im kind of a shoe freak, so this is pretty standard, she says of her tall flowered platform wedges from Target, which reveal the dragon peeking out from her red pants. And yes, she swears theyre comfortable. 10:50 a. m. High-heeled essentials Sabrina Wilder marches to the beat of her own drum. A tattoo on her arm, Me against the mother-fking world, confirms that philosophy. Luckily, she works in a profession that values individualism, she says, laughing, as she rides the escalator to the Concourse C smoking lounge. The hairstylist from Chicago is on her way to visit friends in Montgomery, Alabama, in her first trip to the South. Shes sporting a pair of studded strappy lime-green heels with orange platforms that she bought during a trip to New York City earlier this year. Even when shes home, Wilder wears heels. I clack, clack all around the house. She feels naked without them. 5:15 a. m. Eating local, sort of Whatll ya have, whatll ya have Monique Wheeler hollers the signature catchphrase of The Varsity, an 85-year-old Atlanta fast-food institution, as bleary-eyed passengers whove just cleared security trickle up the escalators to Concourse C. Wheeler, 24, wakes up at 2:30 a. m. to make her morning shift here. Like passengers, she too has to go through security every day. None of the stores in the airport is independently owned local institutions like The Varsity or Sweetwater Brewery simply license their names to the concessionaires that run the restaurants. The Varsity splits a kitchen with Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A. Loretta Evans, on the Chick-fil-A end of the kitchen, doesnt have to ask her customers what theyll have. Shes busy making biscuits for the breakfast rush the store sells about a thousand a day. 7:30 a. m. How do you say over easy in Chinese The third order of the morning at P. F. Changs is Kung Pao chicken. Chinese for breakfast It might not be as strange as it sounds who knows what time zone a customer is coming from This outpost on Concourse A, which opened only the day before in an old Chilis space, is the first P. F. Changs in the country to test a breakfast menu. But the full menu is also available during all operating hours. Its an all-day affair, says Nico Roldan, regional chef for the Southeast. Theres not the normal after-lunch lull typical of nonairport restaurants, he says. Once were busy, we never stop. 10:47 p. m. Last call A customer finishes his drink just before closing time at the Atlanta Hawks Bar Grill on Concourse A. A delayed flight does more than strand passengers. It keeps employees on the job. Concessionaires are bound by contract to remain open until the last departing flight leaves the concourse. 8:15 a. m. Her first flight of the day Hi. Glad to have you aboard. Hola. Guten tag. Good morning. Flight attendant Chasiti Anderson has five greetings for passengers, and this morning shes working them as people board AirTran Flight 10 to Memphis at Atlantas gate C12. Her broad, engaging smile provides an air of comfort. The job has allowed her to see the world, and the flexible schedule lets her be active in charities to help at-risk youth. I love everything about flying, she says. This is the first of three flights for Anderson and her crewmates today on board N982AT, a Boeing 717-200 with 117 seats. Among her passengers is Roc Howard, 51, seated in 29F. Born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, Howard is the 10th of 14 children. He picked cotton as a boy in the Mississippi Delta, worked in finance at the White House and now works in finance at the Department of Homeland Security. The day of this flight is the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. s I Have a Dream speech, and thats not lost on him. Ive been lucky in that Ive seen both worlds, Howard says. Working at Homeland Security and the White House, its a different, different world than what I grew up in. Hes headed home for a family reunion in Mound Bayou. He flies into Memphis and will drive the rest of the way. He hopes to get some golf in before eating up barbecue and tall tales with family. Itll be the first time hes seen most everyone since his mother died last year at 82. My mother raised us all on her own, he says. Even today, I dont know how she did it. 11:55 a. m. Life of a rocker Jim and Julieanne Goodwin can hardly contain their excitement about this trip. Everything seems less painful than usual, says Jim. Theyre on AirTran Flight 425 from Memphis to Atlanta, but their final destination is Denver, where theyll see their 22-year-old son, John, at the University of Colorado. Theyll be joined by their 23-year-old daughter, Anne, for a full family affair in the Rockies. The couple are from Tupelo, Mississippi. You know, Elvis is, too, says Julieanne. What would a flight out of Memphis be if someone didnt invoke the name of the King of Rock n Roll Flight attendant Tyk Phillips, 64, used to live the life of a rocker. From 1963 to 1973, Phillips played in a band that traveled the nation. After that, he promoted concerts for nearly a decade and then worked special effects lighting for rock bands for two more decades. Had a ball, he says. We did The Who tours. Neil Diamond. Barry Manilow. Journey. Rod Stewart. ZZ Top. You name them, weve done them. He started for AirTran in management before trading it in six years ago to do something fun. Now, he likes studying people on planes, striking up conversations and hearing their stories. As the flight arrives in Atlanta at 11:55 a. m. flight attendant Selina Menowski tells a young toddler that hes a cutie pie. He pouts and stomps off: Im not a cutie pie. She laughs. 12:42 p. m. Some things you just leave alone Dexter Kluttz, 60, is in seat 28F as AirTran Flight 163 heads to Jacksonville from Atlanta. He started his day at his home in St. Paul, Minneapolis, and now hes flying to Florida to meet up with a boyhood friend. Ever since they were 20, the two have traveled to fish and party. Their mancation delegation used to number six, but deaths have cut the group to two. Kluttz and his friend will drive to the Carolinas. The plan: deep-sea fishing off Cape Hatteras or Myrtle Beach. Theyve been plotting the trip for a year and a half. The thing about it is, the fish dont matter, he says. Its just basically about getting together again. It becomes more important as you get older. Their best mancation was in Germany when all six were still alive. What made that trip special Kluttz bristles, chuckles and mentions the unwritten rule of mancationing: What happens on the road stays on the road. Some things you just leave alone, he says. Lets just say it was a good time. As the jet reaches a cruising altitude of 27,000 feet, Keith Walker, 47, rests in seat 21F. Based out of Austin, Texas, Walker travels frequently for work. I fly 35 to 40 times a year, so you have to enjoy it, he says. The people I meet are enjoyable. You cant allow the frustrations of flying to be an issue. That just is what it is. Walker works for a nonprofit agency that helps put veterans with disabilities back to work. His life changed in 2009 when he met an Iraq War veteran whose carotid artery was severed by an IED explosion. The loss of blood left him with mid-term memory loss. For Walker, that meeting put everything into perspective in the blink of an eye. He left a job with a large defense contractor and moved to his current company, which employs 1,400 people, including more than 900 with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities. Our company mission is to create a job opportunity for every type of disability. 2:24 p. m. The saddest trip Lillian Eversly would prefer not to be making this journey. Right now, Im very emotional. Im going home to Trenton, New Jersey, to bury my sister, said Eversly, 61. It was a sudden heart attack, so its not a pleasant trip for me. There were six brothers and sisters. Eleanor Culbreath, 69, was the second to pass. Lillian and Eleanor would take turns visiting each other. One year, Eleanor would come to Brunswick, Georgia, to stay with Lillian the next year, Lillian would visit her older sister in New York, where she lived. Their family home was in Trenton, where her sister will be buried. We were very, very close, she says. I feel a tremendous loss and void and hurt. The two didnt visit this past summer. When they last spoke by phone, they talked about their children and grandchildren. Eversly pauses, gathers her thoughts. I didnt expect to be going home for a funeral, but such is life. At 2:24 p. m. AirTran Flight 339 departs Jacksonville for Atlanta, where Eversly will change planes for the long trip home. 4:20 p. m. The toddler express Immediately, something becomes obvious on AirTran Flight 164 to Indianapolis, scheduled to leave Atlanta at 4:20 p. m. There are at least a dozen kids under the age of 3, seemingly all over the place. This can strike fear in even the most experienced traveler: Will a screaming kid be sitting next to me All 117 seats fill up, too, the most full this 717-200 has been all day. Flight attendant Trina Holden mdash passengers tell her all the time she looks like Rihanna mdash takes it all in stride. Shes been a flight attendant for 14 years and was aboard a Continental jet from Newark, New Jersey, to Los Angeles on September 11, 2001, when news of the terrorist attacks came. She was in the bathroom when her crew members knocked. I was like, Can I get a moment of peace They were told that something had happened to planes in New York and that air traffic control was doing its best to find a place for their plane to land. They eventually touched down in Omaha, Nebraska. Ill never forget it, she says. Flying has definitely changed after that. It will never be the same. But at the end of the day, it definitely beats sitting in an office doing a 9 to 5. I know that this is where I need to be. 5:38 a. m. Name that town Louiza Goulart is overwhelmed. Its her first time in the United States. She and her husband, Silvanio Pereira Santos, have traveled 4,100 miles from their home in rural Goias, in Brazils highlands, to live close to their son in Austin, Texas. A retired couple, they are drawn to the United States not by the promise of work, or safety from oppression, but by the lure of travel, children and grandchildren. Everything is so big, Louiza says in Portuguese. She and Silvanio are looking forward to settling in Texas and exploring the United States. What do they want to see most Louiza scrunches up her face as she tries to remember a citys name. A pause, but she remembers. Boston, she finally says with a smile. 12:03 p. m. Seizing the spinach Korean Airlines Flight 35 arrives from Seoul, and David Pline and his Customs and Border Protection colleagues are about to have their hands full: suitcases brimming with exotic produce. Is this pepper Pline asks a Virginia resident who has just returned from his native Vietnam. The man isnt sure. Then Pline notices a bag inside a bag that seems particularly heavy. Is there anything in there Again, the man doesnt know, saying he didnt pack everything himself. Pline slices the bag open with a small knife. He finds clothes lots and lots of clothes tightly packed inside. And while theres plenty of food here, too, Pline doesnt find much else of concern. The only thing he takes is a single package of water spinach. The man walks away smiling, with plenty of other things left to bring home to family and friends. 12:49 p. m. Catching cows heads This was Diedra Dukes introduction to life as an agriculture specialist in customs: On her first day at work, a Nigerian woman told Duke there was a cows head inside her luggage. Sure enough, when Duke opened the bag she found decaying flesh and squirming maggots. It was an experience, Duke recalls, with a big smile and bigger sense of understatement. Twelve years later, Duke isnt getting her hands dirty in the same way anymore. At 34, shes now a chief in the agriculture division of Customs and Border Protection. She oversees a group of specialists with science backgrounds who are asked to detect minuscule pests, recognize all types of flora and fauna, and grasp how rules differ depending on where the goods came from. Humans arent the only ones assigned to this task: Numerous beagles and one Labrador prowl and sniff to make sure every item is up to snuff. Their work goes well beyond forcing a traveler to toss out her apple. These specialists think a few steps ahead. What happens if an invasive animal or plant species is introduced into the United States How about a pest that, absent any natural predators, gobbles up crops and chews through trees Dukes team is the first line of defense. Members need to have one thing in common: You have to have a love, a passion. Find that bug, that disease, and stop it. 10:27 a. m. Snakes on a plane Bugs, weird food, dirty laundry, mice. Tarra Rankin has seen just about everything go through the airport. She generally works in the oversize luggage area in the International Terminal. After nine years with TSA, the slight woman from Niagara Falls, New York, says little surprises her any more. You name it, Ive seen it, she says. But you cant be scared, even if it says its a box of snakes. Shes gotten good at guessing which suitcases come from which country. People traveling often bring food from home for comfort. The luggage from India smells like curry, she says. Italians and Spaniards like their stinky cheese. I dont mind at all, she says. I find it all very interesting. With the right paperwork, guns can go into checked baggage. Often, though, weapons turn up in carry-ons. TSA in Atlanta leads the country for finding the most weapons mdash 68 guns just this year, as of this August day. (By comparison, TSA officers at JFK in New York have found seven.) One guy even came up to me and opened his jacket to show his gun, Rankin says. He said he completely forgot. When that happens, I tell them what their options are and try to help out. The key to doing well in this job is to stay flexible and level-headed. 7:09 a. m. Boots on the ground Hunters and explorers often bring back more from their trips abroad than just memories and mementos. These can include viruses and bacteria that pose a threat to U. S. agriculture or health. To guard against this, customs officers spray down the boots of returning hunters with a disinfectant called Virkon S. Today, a wet, muddy mess collects at the bottom of a gray tote as a customs officer sprays a pair of boots belonging to a hunter back from South Africa. Its the same treatment military vehicles returning from overseas duty get, port director Stephen Kremer says. 1:17 p. m. The world comes to him Nick Sengchanh has been around the world as a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines. Now, as he sits in the Customs Hall, the world is coming to him. On this day, travelers from places from Aruba to Zurich file past a bevy of interpreters paid by the city of Atlanta and walk up to booths, where they are met by Customs and Border Protection officers like Sengchanh. To his left, people with U. S. passports stand in their own set of lines. He doesnt remember it much, but Sengchanh was once a newcomer to the United States himself. Born in 1968 to a Laotian father and Thai mother, he immigrated with his family in the mid-1970s. Their first stop was Nashville, before moving a few years later to Atlanta. Three decades later, Sengchanh is in many ways a Southern gentleman but one who speaks fluent Lao and Thai. As a flight attendant for Northwest, hed often help passengers fill out the paperwork they need to officially get into the United States. Asked to describe the best part of his current job, an answer comes easily: When a new immigrant is coming into the United States. However they end up in this country, he adds, Its like winning the lottery. Being a flight attendant was fun while he was single, but it didnt make as much sense once he got married. He followed a friends advice and applied for a customs job after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He still travels the world. But nowadays, its for fun. Airports are gateways to journeys, not the final stop. But for 24 hours, we made the worlds busiest airport our destination -- and discovered a world with its own culture, marketplace and transit system, people who make it hum, even a taste of the exotic. In other words, much like the places we visit or hope to see. On August 28, from 12:01 a. m. to midnight, more than three dozen journalists descended on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. We found moments of love and loss, hope and suspense, echoes of war -- both on the ground and in the sky. Its a city within a city thats a second home to 58,000 workers and a fleeting stop for the 95 million passengers whose nearly 1 million annual arrivals and departures earn the airport its worlds busiest distinction. We invite you to join us on our journey, presented below in chronological order. Scroll down to read the stories in order or tap JUMP TO at the bottom of the screen to move to a particular hour. laquo Leave chronological viewCBC Digital Archives Canada8217s Earthquakes and Tsunamis Beneath our feet, Canada is constantly atremble. Earthquakes shake the country about 2,500 times per year, most too small to feel. But occasionally, and without warning, the earths crust below Canada buckles and spasms to frightening effect. More dangerous are the tsunamis that such quakes can cause. CBC Archives looks back at notable Canadian quakes, fears about the big one predicted for the West Coast and scientists efforts to better understand the threat from below. Canadas Earthquakes and Tsunamis The Early Years of the AIDS Crisis In the early 1980s doctors began noticing rare cancers and infections striking otherwise healthy young gay men. Something was destroying their immune systems -- something fatal and possibly contagious. At first it was called the gay plague. Then others began dying: Haitians, intravenous drug users, hemophiliacs and heterosexuals. Fear, confusion and prejudice reigned as the disease eventually known as AIDS grew from a mystery to an epidemic. This topic contains discussion of a sexual nature. The medical information in the clips was believed accurate at the time of broadcast, but may have changed. The Early Years of the AIDS Crisis Recommended Author James Baldwin on being black in America In 1960, the novelist talks with Nathan Cohen of the CBC about the place of black people in American society. Arts Entertainment Literature Other Books and Authors Bargain retailers go upscale Zellers, Kmart and Honest Eds have begun competing with the traditional department stores for consumer dollars in 1987. Economy Business Consumer Goods Consumers Products Tommy Douglas8217s story of Mouseland: A political allegory Life was tougher than ever in Mouseland until a little mouse came forward with a big idea. Politics Parties Leaders Tommy Douglas and the NDP Three-day blizzard seals Manitoba8217s fate before 1997 flood The people of southern Manitoba fear the flood of the century. Environment Extreme Weather Red River Rising: Manitoba Floods 1993: Canadian peacekeepers bid farewell to Cyprus After 29 years of service, Canadas Blue Berets prepare to leave the Mediterranean hotspot for good. War Conflict Peacekeeping Peacekeeper to the World Interstellar communication: the search for life beyond Earth Scientists discuss how we should look beyond our solar system for signs of intelligent life in 1965. Science Technology Space Space Astronauts On This Day Connect with us