Balram “B” Bheodari, general manager of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, attended an industry conference in Denver earlier this month when he was offered a job making significantly more money than his current $310,000 annual salary.
Despite running the world’s busiest airport, Bheodari makes less money than many of his industry colleagues – all of which are running smaller airports. Plus, he is working without a contract, a city policy that has been in place since the departure of Ben DeCosta, who had a contract for during his 12 years in that role.
In the past 13 years, Atlanta has had eight airport general managers (including interim) – creating a “revolving door” at one of the most important posts in the city. Bheodari, who served a stint as interim in 2019, was named general manager in 2021. He succeeded John Selden, who left Atlanta to take a job in Saudi Arabia as CEO of NEOM Airports, supposedly tripling his salary.
So, is Atlanta vulnerable to losing Bheodari for bluer skies?
During an interview on Thursday, June 8, Bheodari said he had been offered a job on Monday to become a consultant with a lucrative compensation package that was almost too good to refuse.
“But the question I asked myself, is it all about money?” Bheodari said. “Or is it about the quality of life and the joy of what I’m doing?”
It’s one of those ironies. Running the world’s busiest airport doesn’t translate into the highest salary.
Far from it.
At the nation’s second busiest airport – Dallas-Fort Worth – CEO Sean Donahue saw his base pay jump to $589,310 this year in addition to a bonus of $234,632 – totaling more than $800,000.
“As Atlantans, we have been blessed to have B’s leadership at this time,” said Zack Deming, managing director over aviation searches for Diversified Search. “There’s no denying it. At $310,000, Atlanta certainly ranks toward the bottom in CEO compensation of major airports.”
Deming went on to say that in the aviation search world, Bheodari would be a candidate.
“Because of his leadership, the team he’s developed and running a 100-million-plus passenger airport, he’d be a viable candidate for any job that would come up as a general manager,” said Deming, who complimented the way Bheodari steered the airport during the Covid pandemic. “B is not a maintenance guy. He hustles.”
So, who is Balram Bheodari, and what makes him so committed to Atlanta?
Bheodari was born in Guyana. Several generations ago, Bheodari’s family immigrated from India and became indentured servants in Guyana until a couple of generations ago.
“My mother did not know how to read and write,” Bheodari said. “She passed away at the age of 42 because of cancer.”
At the time, Bheodari was only 18. He and his father immigrated legally to the United States, where he began his studies in finance, thinking he’d become an accountant.
“But in the back of my head, I always would look up, when I was growing up in South America, way out in the sky and see the vapor trail of a jet going by,” Bheodari said. “I always had this fascination about that. And when the opportunity presented itself to be an officer (in the military) and go to flight school, that CPA notion just fell right off.”
Bheodari spent 22 years in the military (getting the nickname “B”), traveling around the world as a helicopter pilot until his last post at Atlanta’s Fort McPherson.
By that time, he had married his high-school sweetheart and had three children who had been uprooted every two or three years at his various job postings. When it came time for another assignment in 1998, Bheodari’s wife convinced him to retire and stay in Atlanta, settling in Fayetteville, a place they still call home.
“For the very first time, we were able to live in a community and have stability,” Bheodari said. “My children were going to school, and they took a likeness to Atlanta, to Atlanta’s weather, the people and the many cultures.”
Bheodari and his family also became part of metro Atlanta’s Hindu community, involved with their church community in Lawrenceville and Gwinnett County.
“But most importantly of all, I fell into an organization that I really love,” Bheodari said. ”I give my heart and soul to this organization and the city of Atlanta.”
Bheodari has worked at the Atlanta airport for most of the past 23 years (taking a short stint in 2015 to go to Houston before returning to Atlanta the following year). He has worked under every mayoral administration since Bill Campbell, starting as a temporary employee and working his way up through the ranks.
“Today, my job has elevated tenfold in terms of satisfaction – working for Mayor Andre Dickens,” said Bheodari, who was appointed as the permanent general manager by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in 2021. “Both of them are a total joy to work with, and I put together staff where we have full collaboration, teamwork and cooperation – moving in the same direction with the same vision for the city.”
Bheodari also spoke of all the stakeholders who are vital to the airport’s success, especially Delta Air Lines and the other carriers, as well as the larger Atlanta community.
Is Bheodari concerned about a possible state takeover of the Atlanta airport?
“When you have a good enterprise that is very transparent with ethical leadership, that will always do the right thing, with close collaboration with regulators, the mayor’s office… how could anyone find an opening?” He asked rhetorically. “It just doesn’t make sense for someone to say we’re going to take the airport over just for the sake of taking it over.”
When asked about a possible second airport, Bheodari responded: “Our forecast right now doesn’t call for a second airport. If the time should come, the cost-benefit analysis will have to be done.” And Bheodari said the cost to build and operate a second airport likely wouldn’t make a second airport financially feasible.
One of Bheodari’s key stakeholders is Delta, and the airline had nothing but good things to say.
“Under his leadership, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport weathered unprecedented operational and commercial challenges driven by the pandemic,” Delta spokeswoman Emma Johnson said in an email.
“This success is in large part due to Balram’s close coordination with his team and airline partners,” she added. “He understands that for Hartsfield-Jackson to remain the busiest airport in the world, delivering an excellent customer experience must be a top priority. His plans to chart the airport of the future through improved infrastructure and upgraded technology are a testament of Balram’s commitment to providing a world-class experience for passengers traveling through Atlanta.”
Back in 2019, the Atlanta airport had 110 million passengers, continuing its dominance as the world’s busiest airport. It lost that title for one year in 2020 when it only had 43 million passengers due to the pandemic. Traffic has been climbing back – 76 million in 2021, 94 million in 2022 and a projected 104 million in 2023 – ensuring its world’s busiest designation.
“We are absolutely lucky to have B as our general manager in Atlanta,” Deming said. “B has the trust, support and admiration of everyone at the airport. He’s a selfless leader. And he is focused on keeping Atlanta as the world’s busiest airport.”
Bheodari, who will turn 66 next month, shows no signs of slowing. The airport is investing about $800 million in capital improvements. He continues to build out his team, even though he knows he’s vulnerable to having his key team members be poached by other airports offering more money for less stressful jobs.
Looking ahead, Bheodari said he expects to stay in his post for the next three to five years. During that time, he is focused on succession planning.
“When I walk out of this job, I want to give Mayor Dickens or whoever the mayor is at least two to three choices of internal candidates, so they won’t have to go outside and bring in someone who does not know the city,” Bheodari said, hoping his successor will understand the city’s core values, the magnitude of Hartsfield-Jackson’s operations and the airport’s partnerships with its key stakeholders.
In addition to his work in Atlanta, Bheodari has been a leader nationally and internationally. He named an alphabet soup of organizations: TTAB (Travel and Tourism Advisory Board), AMAC (Airport Minority Advisory Council), ACI-NA (Airports Council International – North America), AAAE (American Association of Airport Executives), and the ACRP (Airport Cooperative Research Program) among others.
Interestingly enough, Bheodari and his wife recently traveled to Guyana after decades of being away, meeting with the president of the South American country and talking about its airport and its plans for ecotourism.
Was Bheodari offered a job in Guyana?
“They did mention something – we have to get you to come consult for us,” Bheodari said laughingly. “It was a very good conversation, and we were thrilled to be back home.”
But he quickly added Atlanta is their forever home – especially to be close to two of their three children (and their one grandchild) who live in metro Atlanta and to take care of their senior citizen dog.
“My personal goal?” Bheodari said with a twinkle in his eye, “I just want to make sure that my dog is happy, and my wife is happy.”
Is that second paragraph correct – “Despite running the world’s busiest airport, Bheodari makes less money than many of his industry colleagues – all of which are running smaller airports. Plus, he is working without a contract, a city policy that has been in place since the departure of Ben DeCosta, who had a contract for during his 12 years in that role.
No city in the world will ever support or justify two Hartsfield’s.
The Metro area already has sufficient airports to expand air carrier operations regionally.
Why is every anti air carrier campaign led by Delta employees’?
How can Delta still be in business if they’ve destroyed the 400+ communities they serve?
Airports build communities.
Watch the greed.
Wake up Atlanta.
What changed from June 2023 to now? In a similar story in June, the GM stated that it was not about the money but the joy of the job and how happy he was to be there. Now he’s disgruntled? I hear the rumor mill is swirling about all of the recent departures at ATL airport and the reason behind them are pointing to lack of ability, personnel issues, and pending lawsuits.