HBCU News – Atlanta Airport Appoints BWI Head Ricky Smith As New GM

By Aaron Karp

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens appointed Ricky Smith, the longtime CEO of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), as the new head of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

Smith has been executive director and CEO of the Maryland Aviation Administration, which runs BWI, since 2015. He will become general manager of ATL on April 2.

The hiring of Smith to lead the world’s busiest passenger airport ends a search that started when Dickens dismissed former general manager Balram Bheodari in May 2024 as part of a broader shakeup of the city government, which owns and operates ATL. Jan Lennon, the airport’s deputy general manager of operations, took over as interim head of ATL on July 1.

Lennon will stay on as executive deputy general manager under Smith.

Prior to taking the top spot at BWI, Smith served as CEO of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Dickens pointed to Smith’s “extensive experience” in airport management, saying in a statement the new ATL general manager will provide “dynamic leadership to drive … continued growth.”

Smith said he is “both honored and excited to serve the Atlanta public,” calling ATL the “most impactful economic driver” for the city and state of Georgia.

BWI has been steadily growing passenger numbers under Smith’s leadership, but has a different profile than ATL. BWI is a domestic-focused airport in which Southwest Airlines has a 70% market share. The airport has just 17 international routes, mostly near-international.

Smith pushed for BWI to have a larger international presence and was able to land new services during his tenure.

Icelandair and Play, two Iceland-based carriers, serve BWI, and British Airways operates year-round service to London Heathrow Airport. Panama’s Copa Airlines operates to BWI from its Panama City hub.

“I think anytime we’re able to showcase how successful international service can be from BWI, it enhances our opportunities with other international carriers,” Smith told Aviation Week when Copa opened flights to the airport in 2023.

ATL is Delta Air Lines’ main global hub with service to more than 70 international destinations in over 40 countries, in addition to greater than 150 U.S. connections.