Uber enlisting customers in fight over Atlanta airport pickups

Uber is enlisting its customers in Atlanta as it prepares to go to battle over pickups at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The company says visitors from across the United States and more than 160 countries who came to Atlanta through Hartsfield-Jackson in 2015 opened the Uber app more than 175,000 times looking for a ride with Uber.

The world's busiest airport wants to require Uber drivers to submit to fingerprint-based background checks before picking up at the airport, as cab drivers do.

An Uber spokesman says that and other requirements proposed by the airport "would make it impossible" for Uber to operate at Hartsfield-Jackson.

The airport plans to introduce its proposal to the Atlanta City Council transportation committee at a meeting May 30.

In advance of that meeting, Uber sent a message to its drivers telling them: "Your access to the airport could be at risk."

Those who request an Uber ride at the airport get a message telling them: "Access to Uber at Hartsfield-Jackson is in jeopardy. A new proposal is threatening your ability to access Uber at the airport."

The company is asking customers to tweet about why they ride Uber from the airport, with the option of using a partially pre-written tweet, and giving an example of a financial services professional named DaShon who likes to take Uber to and from the airport.

Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi

Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi

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