The 204,000-square-foot facility, used in recent years by Delta Air Lines and before that by now-defunct Eastern, will be home to more than 400 ASA employees and about 100 mechanics.

Moving to the North Hangar at 990 Toffie Terrace will quadruple ASA's current space and give the airline its first hangar operation at Hartsfield-Jackson.

ASA, one of Delta's regional contract carriers, already is using the 1960s-era hangar's bays for overnight maintenance. Maintenance support staff will begin moving in next month. Headquarters employees will begin moving into the office space sometime after that, and the move should be complete by April, said Kate Mondolo, ASA's director of corporate communications.

The airline is moving from 61,000 square feet at 100 Hartsfield Centre Parkway, where its lease was expiring,

The hangar, which comes with 1,400 parking spaces, will enable ASA to grow its employee base and maintenance operation. At least 100 administrative workers will move to the facility from Macon, where ASA has had a maintenance operation.

ASA signed a 25-year lease — $2.4 million a year — with the airport. The property is being renovated for the move.

The hangar was left vacant when Eastern died in 1991, and Delta sought to take over the lease the following year. Atlanta balked, arguing the terms were too low. The dispute grew heated and public; then-Mayor Maynard Jackson claimed Delta's CEO hung up on him during one phone discussion.

Delta years later reached a deal with the city to lease the hangar, then turned the hangar back over the city when it went into its bankruptcy reorganization.

Source:  ajc.com