ATA Airlines

In its early days, the airline flew charters on a worldwide basis and had bases in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Indianapolis, Oakland, and Milwaukee.[2] ATA then announced it was ceasing all services, effective 4:00 am EDT on Thursday, April 3, 2008,[3] citing the unexpected loss of a major contract for its military charter business, as a subcontractor of FedEx Express,[4] along with recent increases in jet fuel prices.ATA performed services for the United States Department of Defense and US military during the 1991 Gulf War, transporting 108,000 military personnel on 494 missions for Operation Desert Storm and again during Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom with the activation of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet ("CRAF").In February 1991, ATA won a contract for daily 727-100 shuttle operations between Nellis Air Force Base and Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.Also in 1993, according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), ATA was operating scheduled passenger service between New York JFK Airport and Lagos, Nigeria, via a stop at Santa Maria Island in the Azores with a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar wide body jetliner.Most seats were reserved by UK tour operator Travel City Direct, who specialized in Florida fly-drive vacations.That year, the airline also began scheduled flights to Mexico and was designated as a major carrier by the United States Department of Transportation.In August of that same year, the airline received the delivery of another new type of aircraft, the Boeing 757-300, for which ATA was the North American Launch customer.After 2001 the 737-800 with their ETOPS capabilities became the fleet's mainstay of ATA's medium haul operations from the west coast to and from Hawaii and Mexico.The similarity of the American Trans Air and AirTran Airways names to those of other airlines caused confusion among customers and the general public.After the economic upheaval caused by the 9/11 attacks upon the airline industry of the United States, ATA and its then parent company AMTRAN suffered substantial financial hardships.Among the small group of airlines to receive ATSB backing from the US Government, this alone proved not enough for American Trans Air to remain out of reorganization caused from the hardships and ill-timing of the refleeting to 737-800s just prior to the terrorism attacks.In early October 2005, ATA terminated these negotiations due to the Boeing machinists strike, which would have delayed the delivery of the aircraft.Later that year, on November 1, 2005, a second round of flight cuts were announced, including the suspension of scheduled service to Denver, San Juan, and their headquarters and former hub, Indianapolis.On November 17, 2005, ATA Airlines received court approval to sell its Ambassadair Travel Club division to Grueninger Cruises and Tours.ATA suspended flights from Chicago Midway International Airport to San Francisco, Orlando, and Fort Myers in late April 2006.The $7.5 million bid included the rights to 14 slots at LaGuardia Airport that belonged to ATA, as well as various other assets such as trademarks and logos.[24] Albania Caribbean (excluding U.S. territories) Ireland Latvia Mexico Nigeria Northern Ireland, UK United States U.S. insular areas in the Caribbean: ATA also flew charter flights to London Gatwick Airport, London Stansted Airport and Manchester, UK via technical stops in Gander, Newfoundland in Canada.Commuter air carrier Chicago Express Airlines operating as the ATA Connection served the following destinations with British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and/or Saab 340B commuter turboprop aircraft from Chicago Midway Airport which was an ATA hub:[25] On March 15, 2008, ATA was supposed to resume service to Miami International Airport and fly scheduled flights to Central America for the first time with the addition of flights to Guatemala City and San José, Costa Rica.[27] As part of the deal, ATA Airlines would have based a single Boeing 737-800 aircraft in Miami to fly the routes to Guatemala City and San José.After three roundtrips booked on the company's website, customers earned a coach companion ticket on any flight operated by ATA Airlines throughout the contiguous United States.All tickets booked online received double credit toward that particular trip versus purchasing through a telephone or travel agent.While award availability to Hawaii was very limited, travelers did earn twice the normal number of credits when they purchased airfare on Hawaii-bound flights.[37] For a set "fee", the "bank" provided the traveler with a flexible number of flight credits that could be used over the course of a year, at vastly reduced savings and with no blackout dates for advance bookings.As far back as 2001, ATA explored a passenger sharing agreement, with a now defunct airline called Access Air which also had midwestern United States flight operations.[39][40][41] The ATA Connection service flown by commuter air carrier Chicago Express Airlines was also operated on a codeshare basis.In February 2005, after J. George Mikelsons stepped down as CEO of ATA Airlines, John Denison, Southwest's former Chief Financial Officer took over.Denison remained Chairman of Global Aero Logistics Inc., and was renamed as interim President and CEO when Subodh Karnik stepped down in March 2008.The aircraft tail also featured gold, white, and blue stripes along the bottom with a bigger ATA runway logo in the center.[45] On August 10, 1986, an ATA DC-10-40 parked at the ramp at Chicago O'Hare International Airport was destroyed by fire due to a mishandled loose oxygen canister.

Logo of ATA Connection (2000–2001)