ATA Airlines
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| Founded | 1973 (Ambassadair) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus cities | |||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | ATA Travel Awards | ||||||
| Fleet size | 29 | ||||||
| Destinations | 16 | ||||||
| Parent company | Global Aero Logistics, Inc. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Indianapolis, Indiana | ||||||
| Key people | J. George Mikelsons (Founder) Subodh Karnik (CEO) | ||||||
| Website | www.ata.com | ||||||
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 maintains focus cities at Chicago Midway International Airport, Honolulu International Airport, and Oakland International Airport.
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[1] 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.[citation needed]
History
Early years
(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 founded 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 Rolls-Royce powered 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 and government contract air charter flights.
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."
After 2001 the 737-800 with their ETOPS capabilities became the fleet's mainstay of most of ATA's expansive operations from the west coast to Hawaii and Mexico.
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 resulting in the permanent layoff of its entire staff. 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 2004, AirTran Airways agreed to pay $90 million for ATA's 14 gates at Chicago-Midway. However, Southwest made a higher bid and AirTran's deal fell apart.
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. Due to high lease rates, the three 737-300s were taken out of service in November 2007, and returned to their owners.
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 former 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 former 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] However, with the acquistion of World Airways, and the holding companies organizational name change to Global Aero Logistics, it was decided 3 of the planned 9 DC-10's acquired by ATA, would be transferred directly to World Airways' operating certificate, thus causing great consternation to a substantial number of engaged employees who remain furloughed from ATA as a result of the downsizing of George Mikelsons original airline.
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.[citation needed]
On October 11, 2007, ATA announced they would end service between Chicago Midway International Airport and Washington, D.C. (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) on November 28, 2007, and also between Chicago and New York (LaGuardia Airport) on January 7, 2008. Also announced on October 11, the discontinuation of service between Chicago and Ontario, California (LA/Ontario International Airport); ATA's most recent route that began in May 2007. These service cuts to such highly valued "slot restricted" airports, leave ATA with only 4 destinations served from their former Chicago hub. [6]
On March 15, 2008, ATA will 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. [7]
Destinations
ATA Airlines currently flies to 13 destinations throughout Mexico and the United States. Upcoming schedule changes will increase their destination count to 16 when they begin service to Guatemala City, Guatemala, Miami, Florida, and San José, Costa Rica on March 15, 2008. By this summer, they plan to expand their network by two more cities, adding Managua, Nicaragua and San Pedro Sula, Honduras[8]. With ATA's additions of Kona and Lihue, Hawaii in June 2007, the airline now serves more Hawaiian destinations non-stop from the mainland United States than any other airline in the world. [9]
New Routes
- Daily nonstop service between Guatemala City, Guatemala (GUA) and Miami, FL (MIA) begins March 15, 2008. [10]
- Daily nonstop service between San José, Costa Rica (SJO) and Miami, FL (MIA) begins March 15, 2008. [10]
Fleet
As of February 1, 2008, ATA has 29 aircraft in its fleet consisting of:[11]
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (Business/Coach) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-800 | 12 | 160 (12/148) 175 (175) |
Medium-long haul and Charters | |
| Boeing 757-200 | 6 | 185 (12/173) 200 (200) |
Long haul and Charters | |
| Boeing 757-300 | 4 | 247 (247) | Long haul and Charters | North American launch customer |
| Lockheed L-1011-500 Tristar | 3 | 283 (283) | Military charters | Exit from service: November 2008 Replacement aircraft: Douglas DC-10-30 |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 | 4 | 318 (318) | Military charters | 9 purchased from Northwest Airlines (4 will be used by ATA) (3 will be leased to World Airways) (2 will be stored) |
As of February 2008, ATA's average fleet age was 12.3 years old.[12]
ATA's Boeing customer number is 3N.
Current fleet history
The tail numbers of the ATA fleet include the following significant aircraft.
- 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
| Aircraft | Year Retired | Replacement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-300 | 2007 | None | |
| 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 |
|
| McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 | 1986 | Lockheed L-1011-1 | Written off after being destroyed by a ground fire at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in 1986 |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 | 1986 | Lockheed L-1011-1 | |
| Boeing 707 | 1984 | Boeing 727-100 | |
| Boeing 720 | 1981 | Boeing 707 |
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 [2], 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.
Service
Although ATA Airlines is marketed and advertised as a "low-cost airline carrier," it maintains many of the features which mark this airline as full service, at least by the standards American and European travelers have become accustomed to. Unlike many discount airline carriers in Europe, ATA still offers complimetary features such as, window shades and reclining airline seats on all of its airplanes, leather seats on most of its airplanes, adjustable head rest "wings" on many of its planes, limited AVOD audio visual on demand systems, complimentary assigned seating, complimentary checked luggage, complimentary soft drinks and non alcoholic beverage, complimentary bookings via website reservations, complimentary inter-airline baggage connection transfers, and frequent flyer programs.
At this time, ATA Airlines has a codeshare agreement with Southwest Airlines. 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. However, this agreement was short lived due to the tedious economic condition of this post deregulation "start up" carrier. [3][4][5][6]
ATA is not currently involved in an alliance.
Southwest Airlines
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,[citation needed] 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 (Flight Code WN) began marketing ATA's two-letter TZ Coded 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 focus cities in PHX, LAS, LAX, 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[citation needed] 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.. [13][14] 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)
(2001 - Present)
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 engine nacelles were painted blue, with the outboard side of each nacelle displaying a stylized sun. 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
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 blue 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 [15]
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.[16]
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- 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 The Amazing Race: All Stars, 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 touch down 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
- ^ ATA begins flights to Latvia (1990)
- ^ ATA Moves Closer to Emerging From Bankruptcy
- ^ ATA serves more Hawaiian cities from mainland USA than any other carrier
- ^ ATA Holding changes its name
- ^ Global Aero Logistics acquisition of World Air Holdings
- ^ ATA to end service to DCA, LGA
- ^ ATA to return to MIA; to serve GUA and SJO
- ^ La aerolínea estadounidense ATA abrirá vuelos directos entre Costa Rica y Miami
- ^ ATA serves most Hawaiian cities nonstop
- ^ a b "ATA To Fly MIA-GUA/SJO". airliners.net. 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
- ^ ATA Airlines Fleet Fact Sheet
- ^ ATA Airlines Fleet Age
- ^ http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-2220930/AMERICAN-AIR-TO-BE-SOLD.html
- ^ http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2002/11/04/daily56.html
- ^ ATA & PHH split
- ^ ATA Airlines Accident History