John Selden will be leaving his position as general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in mid-April, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said this week.
Selden, who has been ATL general manager since 2018, will be taking a new position in the Middle East. Selden has decades of aviation experience and previously served as deputy general manager of John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) before coming to ATL.
“Coming to Atlanta is one of the best career decisions I’ve made,” Selden said in a press release announcing his departure. “It has been an honor to serve with Mayor Bottoms and to lead such an exceptional group of people who make the Atlanta airport one of the very best in the world.”
During his time at ATL, Selden was responsible for all airport operations, as well as overseeing the major modernization effort that will prepare the facility for growth during the coming decades. “When John took the helm at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, we were flying 2,700 flights and serving close to 300,000 passengers daily,” said Bottoms. “No one could have imagined that a global pandemic would hit the travel industry as hard as it did. Still, with John’s leadership, our frontline workers kept our airport ready for recovery and our operations staff focused on customer service and our multibillion-dollar capital improvement program.”
