Chick-fil-A Saves the Day During Atlanta’s Airport Blackout

Atlanta’s own Chick-fil-A made the rare decision to open on a Sunday in order to feed over 5000 passengers who were stranded during the blackout at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The blackout occurred shortly after 12:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon when an electrical fire broke out in one of the airport’s underground facilities. The fire knocked out power to most of Hartsfield and eventually took out the backup system which is meant to prevent a prolonged outage.

The world’s busiest airport was in the dark for close to 12 hours. Passengers were told just after 6 p.m. to evacuate the airport. Those who could not find a nearby hotel room or return to their homes in metro Atlanta where shuttled to the Georgia International Convention Center.

Enter Chick-fil-A.

According to Chick-fil-A spokesperson Amanda Hannah, Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed called in a favor around 10 p.m. Sunday night asking for Chick-fil-A’s assistance in feeding the thousands still stranded by the power outage.

“We immediately mobilized [franchise] operators, staff, and team members who live and work near the airport, and they began hand-preparing sandwiches offsite and personally delivering them,” she told Eater Atlanta Monday morning.

Stores closest to the airport switched on their fryers and got to work making sandwiches to feed hungry passengers. In total, 5,302 chicken sandwiches were donated to people sheltered for the evening at the convention center.

• All Chick-fil-a coverage [EATL]