Inside Atlanta’s High-Profile Security Control Rooms

Delta’s Operations Control Center — officially it is referred to as an Operations and Customer Center to identify that Delta is proactively serving its customers — looks like what you would expect a mission-critical command and communications unit to look like when you’ve got to manage 6,000+ flights per day (including Delta’s own and the network of regional carriers it assists). The room is divided into several groups and overall contains roughly 400 workstations, each with anywhere from four to 15 monitors at their disposal depending on the type of job.

Security and safety issues monitored on a daily basis include everything from adverse weather conditions, mechanical delays, air traffic congestion and worldwide events. Aircraft routers, crew trackers, sector managers and international dispatchers are key roles in the strategic response, plus in-house the airline employs 27 meteorologists to keep tabs on that ongoing flight influencer. An incident briefing room is adjacent to the control center premises with supporting A/V and communications technology — and fortunately for Delta has not been activated for any of its own flights. Additionally, 2,500 trained emergency response volunteers can be deployed at any moment.