'ATA Airlines, Inc.', formerly known as 'American Trans Air', is an
American low-cost scheduled service and
charter airline based in
Indianapolis,
Indiana. ATA operates scheduled passenger flights throughout the US mainland and
Hawaii, as well as military and commercial charter flights around the world.
The airline's parent company, New ATA Holdings, Inc. (the successor to ATA Holdings Inc. which was also once known as
Amtran), has recently changed its name to Global Aero Logistics, Inc. and has announced plans to purchase
World Air Holdings, Inc. for $315 million in an all cash transaction with the financial backing of the Matlin Patterson Investment firm. Approval of the transaction is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2007. World Air Holdings, Inc. owns and operates
North American Airlines and
World Airways as two separate US-certified air carriers. ATA Airlines and both of World Air Holdings, Inc.'s subsidiary carriers operate from similar business models.
History
Early years
First logo of American Trans Air (1981 - 1996)
Logo of ATA Connection (2000 - 2001)
Common look of ATA during the "Palm Tree" Era (1996 - 2001)
Logo of ATA Connection(2001 - 2005)
ATA was established in August
1973 as American Trans Air (ATA) to provide aircraft for the
Ambassadair travel club. Its first aircraft was a
Boeing 720 named "Miss Indy", with a second Boeing 720 ("Spirit of Indiana") being added in 1978. ATA received its common-air carrier certificate in March 1981. Operations started as a
charter carrier in 1981, with a fleet of eight
Boeing 707s based in
Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1983, American Trans Air introduced its first
DC-10, a series -10, and was followed in 1984 by another, a series -40.
Amtran, Inc., was formed by owner J. George Mikelsons in 1984, as the holding company for Ambassadair, ATA, and any future subsidiaries. The airline replaced the 707s with
Boeing 727-100s in 1984, and added
Lockheed L-1011s (most of which were ex-
Delta Air Lines and
TWA) in 1985, and
Boeing 757-200s in 1989. Scheduled service flights began in 1986 between
Indianapolis, Indiana (
Indianapolis International Airport) and
Fort Myers, Florida (
Southwest Florida International Airport).
Expansion
In 1990, ATA began scheduled service from New York Kennedy to Belfast continuing to Riga, Latvia using Boeing 757-200 aircraft.
[1] The founder of ATA is of Latvian ancestry. The service was discontinued after a few years.
ATA performed services for the
US military during the 1991
Gulf War, transporting 108,000 military personnel on 494 missions for
Operation Desert Storm. The 727-100s were replaced by Boeing 727-200s in 1993.
By the mid-1990s, ATA began focusing on increasing its scheduled service (based on leisure travel) and began using the slogan, "On ATA, You're on Vacation." The airline began operating a sizable hub at
Chicago Midway International Airport, and offered scheduled services throughout
United States, as well as flights to
Hawaii and extensive military air charter contracts.
In 2000, ATA placed a large order for 39 new
Boeing 737-800 aircraft and 12
Boeing 757-300 aircraft to expand its fleet for additional flights from
Midway. 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 June 2001, ATA received the delivery of their first new aircraft,
Boeing 737-800 registered as "N301TZ". In August of that same year, the airline received the delivery of another new type of aircraft, the
Boeing 757-300; ATA's first 757-300 was registered as "N550TZ". The airline introduced a new logo on these new airplanes, replacing ATA as a "vacation airline" and putting more emphasis on ATA as a "business airline."
Chicago Express / ATA Connection
In 2000, ATA and
Chicago Express launched ATA Connection, a regional affiliate of ATA Airlines that would link regional mid-western cities with ATA's
Chicago hub and
Indianapolis focus city; Chicago Express was purchased for $1.9 million on
June 1,
1999, and operated as a separate subsidiary. After ATA entered bankruptcy in late 2004, a decision was made to end ATA's regional service and terminate Chicago Express/ATA Connection. Chicago Express' assets were auctioned off, ATA terminated turboprop service (ATA Connection), and Chicago Express ceased all operations on
March 28,
2005.
American Trans Air
The similarity of the American Trans Air and
AirTran Airways names to those of other airlines caused confusion among customers and the general public. The airline had been known informally as ATA from early in its history, and from the mid-1990s on had been advertised as such, so in 2002 the name of the holding company was changed to
ATA Holdings Corp. In 2003, the name of the airline itself was changed to ATA Airlines, Inc. In 2007, ATA Holdings changed names again; this time to
Global Aero Logistics, Inc., immediately after the acquisition of
World Air Holdings.
Restructuring
On
October 26,
2004, ATA Holdings and its subsidiaries filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Eventually, shareholders of ATA Holdings stock lost all their money and received no shares.
[2] The stock, previously traded on the
Nasdaq stock exchange as "ATAH", delisted.
In December 2004, ATA entered into an agreement with
Southwest Airlines to transfer six gates at
Chicago Midway International Airport and 27% of non-voting stock in exchange for a cash influx and codeshare agreement.
In the beginning of 2005, the airline drastically reduced flights at its Indianapolis hub to only three destinations and centered scheduled flights at
Chicago Midway International Airport in order to complement Southwest Airlines codeshare flights. ATA also focused on serving markets that are business oriented and do not have Southwest service, such as
San Francisco,
Dallas/Fort Worth, and
New York-LaGuardia. Additionally, ATA began offering point-to-point service not connecting to its Midway Hub, as to benefit other Southwest Airlines
focus cities, such as
Las Vegas,
Orlando, and
Phoenix, with connections to non-Southwest destinations such as
Denver and
Hawaii. Southwest CEO,
Gary Kelly, said that revenues were up nearly 20% due to the new codesharing agreement.
On
March 28,
2005, ATA shut down its
commuter airline service, '
Chicago Express/
ATA Connection', and later sold the assets to a private buyer. In attempt to reduce operating costs, the airline also downsized its fleet by returning twenty Boeing 737-800 and eight Boeing 757-300 aircraft, along with numerous Boeing 757-200 aircraft. The eight 757-300 airframes were subsequently refurbished by Boeing, the lessor, and then leased to
Continental Airlines.
ATA Airlines Boeing 757-300 (N550TZ) at MCO
In mid-2005, ATA entered an agreement to lease three ex-
United Airlines Boeing 737-300 aircraft. Three 737-300s entered service with ATA in late November 2005.
In September 2005, ATA
outsourced all its Heavy Maintenance Checks to overseas and domestic contractors. Also planned was an agreement with
Continental Airlines to trade ATA's remaining four 757-300 aircraft for four 737-700 aircraft. However, in early October 2005, ATA terminated these negotiations due to the
Boeing machinists strike, which would delay the delivery of the aircraft.
On
October 13,
2005, ATA announced major service reductions, ending flights to
Boston,
Minneapolis/St. Paul, and
Newark. In addition, the planned addition of flights to
Miami and
Sarasota,
Florida was cancelled. This ended Southwest codeshare service to Minneapolis and Newark. 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.
In a third round of cuts announced on
December 6,
2005, ATA announced that it would discontinue service to three additional cities. ATA would suspend flights from
Chicago Midway International Airport to
San Francisco,
Orlando, and
Fort Myers in late April 2006. Following these cancellations, ATA would have only 18 daily scheduled departures from its Chicago hub and 52 scheduled departures company-wide. Moreover, the company would be left with only 1 gate at Midway, down from its previous total of 14, surrendering the balance to Southwest or the city.
On
December 15,
2005, ATA announced an expansion of its code-share agreement with
Southwest Airlines. ATA Airlines will expand codesharing with
Southwest Airlines between
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and cities in the Southwest system that connect via
Chicago Midway International Airport.
In January 2006, Matlin Patterson and certain pre-bankruptcy creditors invested over $100 million in ATA and took the company private, also taking over
ATA Holdings, Inc. Following the transaction, on
February 28,
2006, ATA Airlines emerged from
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Return to prosperity
On
April 2,
2006, showing new strength, ATA commenced service between Houston's
William P. Hobby Airport (KHOU) and New York's
LaGuardia Airport (KLGA). Until then, ATA had not added new service in almost two years.
As part of its continued plan of growth, ATA initiated new flights out of
Oakland, CA,
Ontario, CA and
Hilo, HI on
April 28,
2006.
ATA, in order to now be able to feed passengers from its
Southwest Airlines codeshare flights, moved its
San Francisco International Airport operations to
Oakland International Airport, introducing two daily flights to
Honolulu, HI, a daily flight to
Maui, HI, and a daily flight to
Hilo, HI. This made ATA the only airline to provide nonstop service between
Hilo, HI and the mainland
United States.
The airline also added an
Ontario, CA to
Honolulu, HI daily round trip flight, making it the only scheduled passenger carrier to operate that route.
On
October 18,
2006, ATA Airlines announced that
Subodh Karnik would become ATA's new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective January 1st, 2007, replacing
John G. Denison, who will continue as ATA's Chairman of the Board of Directors.
On
November 20,
2006, ATA Airlines announced new nonstop service to the Hawaiian cities of
Kona, and
Lihue. Also announced was the addition of a daily nonstop flight between
Las Vegas and
Maui, and increased frequency between
Oakland and
Honolulu. ATA will offer nonstop service to more Hawaii cities from the mainland than any other airline.
[3] The flights began in mid-June, 2007.
In mid-November 2006, ATA announced they would purchase nine of
Northwest Airlines remaining
DC-10-30s. These aircraft will be used on military troop charters, and will replace ATA's aging L1011-500 fleet. The DC-10s are slated for service by summer 2007. ATA plans to only put seven of the nine ex-Northwest DC-10s into service and will use the other two for spare parts.
On
March 9,
2007, ATA Airlines announced new nonstop service between
Chicago (MDW) and both
Oakland (OAK), and
Ontario (ONT). These flights, which began on May 11, also are establishing direct service from Chicago to Honolulu, HI via Ontario, and Maui, HI via Oakland. The new flights from Chicago are the first new flights ATA has added from their Chicago hub in almost three years.
ATA's parent company,
ATA Holdings, announced on
April 5,
2007 that it would change its name to
Global Aero Logistics, Inc., in a move that, according to CEO
Subodh Karnik, "better reflects the company's diverse, worldwide operations."
[4] That same day,
Global Aero Logistics, Inc. announced an agreement to acquire
World Air Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries,
World Airways and
North American Airlines, for $315 million in cash. Each airline, as stated in the official announcement, is to keep operating independently.
[5]
Like ATA, North American Airlines operates
Boeing 757-200s, and World Airways operates
McDonnell Douglas DC-10s on both chartered and scheduled service flights throughout the
world. Adding to the fleet diversity of the newly-aligned carriers are
Boeing 767-300 and
McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 aircraft which have a common pilot
type rating similar to the aircraft currently flown by the acquiring entity's primary holding, ATA Airlines.
Destinations
ATA Airlines Boeing 737-800 (N312TZ) at SRQ
ATA Airlines Lockheed L-1011 (N163AT) landing
ATA Airlines Boeing 757-200 (N512AT) at PHX
ATA Airlines currently flies to 16 destinations throughout
Mexico and the
United States. On May 7, 2007, ATA discontinued service to/from
Houston, Texas, reducing its destination count to 14. However, the airline added its 15
th destination on June 14 when it began service to
Kona, Hawaii, and also added its 16
th destination on June 15, 2007 when it began service from
Lihue, Hawaii. With these additions, ATA now serves more Hawaiian destinations non-stop from the mainland United States than any other airline in the world.
[6]
Fleet
As of
September 5,
2007, ATA has 29 aircraft in its fleet consisting of:
[7]
As of September 2007, ATA's average fleet age was 11 years old.
[8]
ATA's
Boeing customer number is 3N.
Current fleet history
★ ATA received delivery of their first 737-300, ('N401TZ'), on
July 11,
2005.
★
★ ATA's 737-300 fleet is to be phased out, and retired by late 2007.
★ ATA received delivery of their first 737-800, ('N301TZ'), on
June 4,
2001.
★ ATA received delivery of their first 757-200, ('N757AT'), on
November 16,
1989.
★ ATA received delivery of their first 757-300, ('N550TZ'), on
August 4,
2001.
★ ATA received delivery of their first L-1011-500, ('N163AT'), on
July 28,
1998.
★
★ ATA's L-1011 fleet is scheduled to be retired in 2008.
★ ATA received delivery of their first DC-10-30, ('N701TZ'), on
December 29,
2006.
Retired fleet
Affinity programs
ATA Travel Awards
Launched in 2003, ATA's frequent flyer program, 'ATA Travel Awards', offers one of the lowest possibilities for earning travel with the added benefit of no redemption blackout dates. After two roundtrips booked on the company's website, ata.com, customers earn a companion ticket (coach class) on any flight operated by ATA Airlines throughout the
continental United States. All tickets booked online at ata.com receive double credits toward that particular trip. However, Southwest and ATA stress that reward availability to Hawaii will be very limited. Travelers can also earn twice the normal number of credits when they purchase airfare on Hawaii-bound flights.
As a result of the recent enhancements in ATA's codeshare agreement with Southwest Airlines, those purchasing flights directly from ATA reservations and ata.com are now given the option of earning points toward either ATA Travel Awards, or Southwest's
Rapid Rewards.
ATA Airlines FlightBank
Launched in 2006, ATA created a unique program called 'FlightBank'
[1], a rewards program for the frequent traveler between the
U.S. Mainland and the
Hawaiian Islands. For a set "fee", the "bank" provides the traveler with a flexible number of flight credits that may be used over the course of a year, at vastly reduced savings and with no blackout dates for advanced bookings.
Codeshare agreements
At this time, ATA Airlines has a
codeshare agreement with
Southwest Airlines. However, the airline is not currently involved in an
alliance.
Southwest Airlines
An ATA Airlines Boeing 737-800, N310TZ, parked at Gate B24 in Concourse B of Chicago Midway International Airport. Behind the ATA 737 is a Southwest Airlines 737-700.
ATA Airlines, one of
Southwest Airlines' main competitors in the Chicago market, historically operated out of
Midway Airport alongside Southwest. ATA declared bankruptcy, and in
2004, Southwest injected capital into ATA that (among other things) would have resulted in Southwest's 27.5% ownership stake in ATA upon their exit from
Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
In a departure from its traditional "go it alone" strategy, Southwest entered into its first domestic
codesharing arrangement with ATA, which enabled Southwest Airlines to serve ATA markets in
Hawaii,
Washington D.C., and
New York City. Some years earlier, Southwest had a short-lived traditional codeshare arrangement with
Icelandair at
Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
In late 2005, ATA secured $100 million in committed financing from the firm of Matlin Patterson, and Southwest's original deal with ATA was modified such that Southwest no longer retained the 27.5% stake (or any other financial interest) in ATA. The codeshare arrangement however, continues to remain in place and has expanded, with some internal controversy, to include all of ATA's domestic destinations and more than 60 of Southwest's 63 destinations. In 2006, Southwest's pilot union approved a codeshare sideletter to their contract with limitations on the growth of this and other codeshare agreements. While these restrictions today are minor, outsourcing remains a growing concern in the unions' current contract negotiations.
In 2006, Southwest Airlines began marketing ATA-only flights. ATA's dependence on the Southwest network continued to grow in 2006, and today ATA offers over 70 flights a week to Hawaii from Southwest's hubs in PHX, LAS, LAX, ONT, and OAK. Additional connecting service is available to many other cities across the United States. Plans have been announced for ATA to offer exclusive international service for Southwest by 2010. In 2006, ATA announced its intention to purchase nine widebody DC-10 aircraft from Northwest Airlines. Southwest today has taken over all ground operations for ATA at MDW, OAK, PHX, LAX, and LAS. These contracts provide that Southwest ramp personnel will now handle all ground operations (loading of aircraft, ground servicing, etc.) for ATA. The details of these contracts have not been made public but represent Southwest's and ATA's growing mutually beneficial codeshare relationship.
In February 2005, after
J. George Mikelsons stepped down as CEO of ATA Airlines,
John Denison, Southwest's former Chief Financial Officer took over. Effective January 1, 2007, Denison turned things over to
Subodh Karnik, who is now President and Chief Executive Officer. Denison remains Chairman of
Global Aero Logistics Inc.. Presently, there is no plan to open the ATA/Southwest codeshare to ATA's sister carriers, North American Airlines or World Airways, which are co-owned by the same corporate entity created from ATA Holdings.
Livery
In ATA Airlines' 34 year history, the airline has had three different
mainline liveries and two special liveries.
Mainline liveries and logos
Current (flag)
"Flag Livery" Logo(2001 - Present)
"Palm Tree Livery" Logo (1996 - 2001)
"Runway Livery" Logo (1981 - 1996)
ATA's current livery, known as the '"Flag Livery"', was introduced when the airline announced rapid expansion in 2001. It is primarily white with "ATA" painted on both sides of the aircraft. The company logo is also slanted upward on the aircraft
tail resembling a flag. There is a gold stripe that spands across the outward side of the engines and
nacelles, and the winglets (on the 737-800s) are blue on the outside and unpainted on the inside. This livery was first introduced on ATA's new 737-800 and 757-300 aircraft and while it has been integrated onto some of ATA's 757-200s, it was never painted on any of ATA's 727s which were retired in late 2001.
Example Aircraft: (737:
N315TZ / 757:
N551TZ / L-1011:
N162AT / DC-10:
N701TZ)
Intermediate (palm tree)
Currently, many 757-200s and some Lockheed L-1011 still carry the airline's previous livery. The '"Palm Tree Livery"', which was introduced in 1996, was also primarily white with "ATA" painted on both sides of the aircraft; however, the letters were painted in a "bubble-like" fashion. There was a palm tree and a sun on the tail, as well as "ATA" in small letters. The outward side of the engines featured a sun but unlike the current livery, the nacelles were not painted. This livery, introduced to emphasize ATA as a "vacation airline", was synonymous with the phrase "On ATA, You're on Vacation".
Example Aircraft: (727:
N782AT / 757:
N517AT / L-1011:
N161AT)
Original (vintage)
ATA's original livery, known as the '"Vintage Livery"', was introduced when the airline began scheduled passenger service in 1981. Because ATA's first aircraft were ex-
American Airlines aircraft, ATA's original livery was based on American's livery. The livery featured three stripes running the length of the aircraft in the following order: gold, white, and blue. The words "American Trans Air" followed by ATA's "runway logo" were painted above the gold stripe on the
fuselage. The aircraft tail also featured gold, white, and blue stripes along the bottom with a bigger ATA runway logo in the center. All of ATA's Boeing 707s, and a majority of the airline's 727s, 757-200s, and Lockheed L-1011s wore this livery at some point. This livery was painted on every ATA aircraft until 1996, making this ATA's longest lasting livery at 15 years.
Example Aircraft: (707:
N7599A / 727:
N768AT / 757:
N757AT / L-1011:
N186AT / DC-10:
N183AT)
Special liveries
ATA Airlines Boeing 757-200 (N520AT) & 727-200 (N772AT) in the 25th Anniversary livery at MDW25th Anniversary
In 1998, ATA Airlines celebrated their 25th Anniversary. The airline decided to commemorate their anniversary in a big way. In addition to a year-long celebration, two separate aircraft, N772AT (727-200) and N520AT (757-200), were given a special livery which was commonly referred to as the '"25th Anniversary Scheme"'. The design featured the entire plane painted black with "25th Anniversary" painted in large gold writing near the front of the aircraft fuselage. The aircraft tail featured "ATA" in gold lettering with pieces of confetti scattered around the ATA logo. Red, orange, pink, and yellow streamers adorned the sides of the fuselage, as well as the engines. While this was meant to be a temporary livery, the 25th Anniversary scheme adorned N520AT until 2003 when the 757 was repainted to ATA's current livery. N772AT wore the livery until the 727 was retired in 2001. The 25th Anniversary scheme still adorns N772AT today as she lies deserted in the desert.
Example Aircraft: (727:
N772AT / 757:
N520AT)
Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays
In 1994, ATA partnered with tour operator Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays, which was the largest tour operator flying to Hawaii. To promote the alliance, several L-1011s were adorned in a "Hawaiian livery". The '"Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays"' livery has appeared only on two types of ATA's aircraft; the Lockheed L-1011, and later, the Boeing 757-300. The livery had two different forms; the more extravagant was painted on the Lockheed L-1011s. The livery was primarily white and featured "ATA" in big bubble letters near the front of the aircraft, and "Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays" spelled out after "ATA" near the top of the fuselage. Like the mainline livery, the engines were painted with a sun. The livery basically resembled the "Palm Tree Livery" that mainline aircraft adorned at the time, however there was one big difference. "Hawaii" was spelled out in large letters horizontally across the aircraft tail. After the L-1011s were removed from scheduled service in 2002, two 757-300s were painted in the Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays livery; however, the elaborate TriStar livery was replaced with a toned-down livery. The new livery was ATA's current livery with the words "Pleasant Holidays" painted in small letters near the front of the fuselage. This livery and ATA's partnership with Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays was terminated in 2005 when Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays signed a larger network deal with
United Airlines [9]
Example Aircraft: (757:
N555TZ / L-1011:
N163AT)
Incidents and accidents
ATA Airlines has not had a fatal passenger event since it began regular passenger service in 1981.
[10]
Trivia
★ ATA's first
737-800,
N301TZ, has the words "American Dream" inscribed alongside the nose of the aircraft; it is the only aircraft in ATA's fleet to have those words written on it.
★ ATA took delivery of the 1,500th Boeing 737 Next Generation produced,
N333TZ, on May 14, 2004; the aircraft was returned on March 9, 2006 and is now active with
Okay Airways.
★ Every ATA plane has words by the door saying, "The employees of ATA welcome you aboard."
★ An ATA
737-800 was seen in episode 12 of , carrying the final 3 teams from
Honolulu International Airport to their final destination city, San Francisco, via
Oakland International Airport.
★ ATA is North America's largest charter airline, and transports more troops for the
United States Military than any other commercial airline.
★ An ATA
L-1011 was the first aircraft to touchdown on U.S. soil bringing troops home from the
Gulf War.
★ An ATA (American Trans Air)
Boeing 727 is seen in the 1990 film
Die Hard 2: Die Harder, the only non-fictional airline seen in the film.
★ An ATA
757-300 appeared repeatedly on
CNN during reports of the evacuation of foreign nationals from
Lebanon during the
2006 Lebanon War.
References
1. ATA begins flights to Latvia (1990)
2. ATA Moves Closer to Emerging From Bankruptcy
3. ATA serves more Hawaiian cities from mainland USA than any other carrier
4. ATA Holding changes its name
5. Global Aero Logistics acquisition of World Air Holdings
6. ATA serves most Hawaiian cities nonstop
7. ATA Airlines Fleet Fact Sheet
8. ATA Airlines Fleet Age
9. ATA & PHH split
10. ATA Airlines Accident History
External links
★
ATA Airlines Website
★
ATA Airlines Route Map
★
ATA Airlines Seating Charts
★
ATA Airlines Fleet Age
★
ATA Airlines newsroom
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