Krissie

It's a while since I've had the chance to fly into the US and my connection this time is noted as "short" so I'm a little nervous about current time requirements. I am flying from UK into Concourse F? and departing to Dallas Fort Worth from Concourse A? What is the current expectation please - process and times?

Odin

You need to clear immigration and customs before you can take your connecting flight. Who told you the connection is short and what is that short connection time? What airline are you arriving on and what airlines is your onward flight on?
Have you already booked your flights? Is it all on one ticket and reservation?

michelhuebeli

Listen to Odin - we cannot express an opinion if we don't have those details.

WoinParis

If you are on one ticket the airline probably knows that you'll make it.
I had a short connection - 1 hour 30 something and there was a huge crowd at immigration.
We made it. Why not you ?

kahitsaangaling

Flew in and out of Atlanta on international flights this past October. The tram connecting the terminals worked very well, wait time for it is short. On my return, there was a long line at immigration but the line moved fast enough. If you checked in your luggage, you will have to claim them after going through immigration and then check them back in. It was easy to get your luggage and check them back in and the porters were very helpful. If your luggage was tagged for its final destination, all you need to do is hand it over at the check-in area which isn't so far away from where you claim it. Directions to the tram are easy to find. In my opinion, the biggest hassle occurs if your gate just happens to be the last in your connecting terminal. I would suggest that you go online and check the website for the Atlanta airport so that you can get a map of the terminals. It helps to give you an idea of how the terminals are situated. In my case, it was the first time I was using Atlanta, so I really had no idea how the airport was set up. So in addition to using the terminal map as a reference, I would check my airline for past flight arrival and departure info for my particular flight times. It gave me another idea as to which gates they would usually come in and depart of. Really helped me feel more confident that I was going to make the connections. By the way, on my return, I had about 1.45 hours between arrival and departure. I don't know what you mean by short connection but hopefully what I have described it helps.

Krissie

Thank you all, apologies that I took a while to return. My flights are all booked through Virgin Atlantic but I arrive on a VS flight and then depart on a Delta flight (partnered). Time is 1 hr 35 in theory. Getting around Atlanta I recall as being quiet simple but its the immigration and customs that concern me. Is there any sort of operation for fast track for connections? Do the flight crew ever take pity to allow you off the aircraft sharpish as that can take a chunk of time?
I had a bad experience on an internal connection there many years ago when our incoming flight had been delayed and despite us legging it to the departure gate and arriving with 15 minutes to spare they bumped us off the flight and we were stuck overnight. And that was on the return trip so no luggage or customs in the equation.