ATA Airlines

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ATA Airlines
IATA TZ	ICAO AMT	Callsign AmTran
Founded		1973 (American Trans Air)
Hubs		Chicago Midway Airport
Focus cities		Honolulu International Airport Oakland International Airport
Frequent flyer program		ATA Travel Awards
Fleet size		35
Destinations		15
Parent company		ATA Holdings
Company slogan		An Honestly Different Airline
Headquarters		Indianapolis, Indiana
Key people		J. George Mikelsons (Founder) John G. Denison (Chairman) Subodh Karnik (CEO) Douglas F. Yakola (CFO)
Website: http://www.ata.com

ATA Airlines, Inc. (IATA: TZ, ICAO: AMT, and Callsign: AmTran) 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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 Expansion 1.2.1 Chicago Express / ATA Connection 1.2.2 American Trans Air 1.3 Restructuring 1.4 Return to prosperity 2 Frequent flyer program 2.1 ATA Travel Awards 3 Codeshares / alliances 3.1 Southwest Airlines codeshare 4 Destinations 4.1 New service 5 Fleet 5.1 Current Fleet 5.1.1 Current Fleet history 5.2 Retired Fleet 6 Livery 6.1 Mainline Liveries 6.1.1 Current (Flag) 6.1.2 Intermediate (Palm Tree) 6.1.3 Original (Vintage) 6.2 Special Liveries 6.2.1 25th Anniversary 6.2.2 Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays 7 Incidents and accidents 8 Trivia 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

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).

[edit] 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 ancestery. 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 theses new airplanes, replacing ATA as a "vacation airline" and putting more emphasis on ATA as a "business airline".

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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, and in 2003 the name of the airline itself was changed to ATA Airlines, Inc.

[edit] 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.

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.

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, the company 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 invested over $100 million in ATA and took the company private, and on February 28, 2006, ATA Airlines emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

[edit] Return to prosperity

On April 2, 2006, showing 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. The flights slated to begin in mid-June, 2007. In mid-November 2006, ATA announced they would purchase seven 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, and the L1011s are set to retire between March 2007 and October 2007.

On March 9, 2007, ATA Airlines announced new nonstop service between Chicago (MDW) and both Oakland (OAK), and Ontario (ONT). These flights, which are to begin 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 will be the first new flights ATA has added from their Chicago hub in almost three years.

From June 9, 2007, ATA Airlines announced new charter flights nonstop service from New York (JFK), to/from Tirana (TIA) and to/from Prishtina (PRN). All flights with DC-10-30s.

[edit] Frequent flyer program

[edit] 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.

[edit] Codeshares / alliances

At this time, ATA Airlines has a codeshare agreement with Southwest Airlines. However, the airline is not currently involved in an alliance.

[edit] Southwest Airlines codeshare

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 additional 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 17 destinations and all 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.

During 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 ATA's Chairman.

[edit] Destinations

Main article: ATA Airlines destinations

ATA Airlines currently flies to 15 destinations throughout Mexico and the United States. The airline is adding its 16th destination on June 14, 2007 when it begins service to Kona, Hawaii, and will add its 17th destination on June 15, 2007 when it begins service from Lihue, Hawaii. With these additions, ATA will serve more Hawaiian destinations non-stop from the mainland than any other airline in the world.

[edit] New service

Effective May 11, 2007:

• Chicago, IL (MDW) - Oakland, CA (OAK) = new daily nonstop

Effective May 12, 2007:

• Chicago, IL (MDW) - Ontario, CA (ONT) = new nonstop (5 flights per week)

Effective June 14, 2007:

• Oakland, CA (OAK) - Kona, HI (KOA) = new nonstop (3 flights per week)
• Oakland, CA (OAK) - Honolulu, HI (HNL) = Incr from 2 to 3 daily nonstops

Effective June 15, 2007:

• Las Vegas, NV (LAS) - Kahului, HI (OGG) = new daily nonstop
• Oakland, CA (OAK) - Lihue, HI (LIH) = new nonstop (4 flights per week)

[edit] Fleet

[edit] Current Fleet

As of March 5, 2007, ATA has 35 aircraft in its fleet consisting of: ^[3]

ATA Airlines Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Business/Coach)	Routes	Notes
Boeing 737-300	3	138 (138)	Medium haul
Boeing 737-800	12	160 (12/148) 175 (175)	Medium-long haul
Boeing 757-200	6	185 (12/173) 197 (197)	Long haul/Charters
Boeing 757-300	4	247 (247)	Long haul/Charters	North American launch customer
Lockheed L-1011-500 Tristar	4	283 (283)	Military / Charters	To be retired in 2007 Replacement: Douglas DC-10-30
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30	6	317 (317)	Military / Charters	Purchased 9 from Northwest Airlines

As of March 2007, ATA's average fleet age was 11.6 years old.^[4]
ATA's Boeing customer number is 3N.

[edit] Current Fleet history

• ATA received delivery of their first 737-300, (N401TZ), on July 11, 2005.
• 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 2007.
• ATA received delivery of their first DC-10-30, (N701TZ), on December 1, 2006.
  • ATA's DC-10 fleet is scheduled to enter service in 2007.

[edit] Retired Fleet

ATA Airlines Retired Fleet

Aircraft	Year Retired	Replacement	Notes
Saab 340B	2005	None	Operated as ATA Connection
BAe Jetstream 31	2001	None	Operated as ATA Connection
Boeing 727-200	2001	Boeing 737-800 Boeing 757-300
Lockheed L-1011-1	1998	Lockheed L-1011-500 Tristar
Boeing 727-100	1993	Boeing 727-200 Boeing 757-200
Boeing 707	1984	Boeing 727-100
Boeing 720	1981	Boeing 707

[edit] Livery

In ATA Airlines' 34 year history, the airline has had three different mainline liveries and two special liveries.

[edit] Mainline Liveries

[edit] Current (Flag)

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)

[edit] 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 synonomous with the phrase "On ATA, You're on Vacation".
Example Aircraft: (727: N782AT / 757: N517AT / L-1011: N161AT)

[edit] 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)

[edit] Special Liveries

[edit] 25th 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)

[edit] 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 after ATA exited bankruptcy in early 2006.
Example Aircraft: (757: N555TZ / L-1011: N163AT)

[edit] Incidents and accidents

ATA Airlines has not had a fatal passenger event since it began regular passenger service in 1981. ^[5]

[edit] 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."
• 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 Israeli-Lebanon conflict.

[edit] References

1. ^ ATA begins flights to Latvia (1990)
2. ^ ATA Moves Closer to Emerging From Bankruptcy
3. ^ ATA Airlines Fleet Fact Sheet
4. ^ ATA Airlines Fleet Age
5. ^ ATA Airlines Accident History

[edit] External links

• ATA Airlines Website
• ATA Airlines Route Map
• ATA Airlines Seating Charts
• ATA Airlines Fleet Age
• ATA Airlines newsroom