ATA discontinues all flights
Those of you following flight cancellations probably opened this thread as the first item of the day, just as I did the news alert.
However, it's "only" about ATA filing for bankrupty. It's not related to a possible Iran situation.
I do wonder, however, what airline took away the key contract for its military charter business.
I also wonder how much the increase in the cost of fuel contributed to another company going out of business.
www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-ata-webapr04,0,2230385.story
INDIANAPOLIS
ATA Airlines has discontinued all flights and filed for bankruptcy.
The Indianapolis-based airline says in a statement on its Web site Thursday that it became impossible to continue operations after it lost a key contract for its military charter business.
ATA operated six flights daily out of Midway Airport.
ATA announced last month that it would leave its hub at Midway. The airline had flights from Midway to Dallas/Fort Worth and Oakland, Calif. It also had flights to Hawaii from Oakland, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
-snip-
ATA (non) refunds part of future bankruptcy settlement
That means that tickets purchased for vacations and family gatherings have to be bought a *second* time or the trip will not happen at all.
Note the Southwest Airlines affiliation at the end, as well.
http://www.ata.com/
ATA customers who purchased tickets using a credit card should contact their credit card company or travel agency directly for information about how to obtain a refund for unused tickets.
ATA currently is unable to provide refunds to customers who purchased tickets directly from ATA with cash or a check. These customers may be able to obtain a full or partial refund for their unused tickets by submitting a claim in ATA’s Chapter 11 proceedings. Information about submitting a claim will be available at the following website: http://www.bmcgroup.com/ataairlines.
Customers who purchased tickets from Southwest Airlines for flights operated by ATA under the codeshare agreement should contact Southwest Airlines directly at (800) 308-5037.
I wonder
if this is going to be a daily occurence now, learning of more and more cancelled flights and airlines going out of business because of the price of fuel. Like I said yesterday, we might see merges soon as well.
more job
more jobs lost
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,345528,00.html
The company had over 2,200 employees, Freitag said.
"Virtually all of ATA's employees are being notified today that their positions are eliminated," Freitag said.
Don't worry...
...corporate socialism can bring those jobs back. All they need to do is turn on the printing presses or hit a key on a computer in the bowels of that vanguard of the "free market," the Federal Reserve, and propagate some mal-investment.
Besides, those people can now go to work at a new Wal-Mart supercenter/FEMA camp near you.
"We don't have to start a brand new revolution...All we have to do is restore the original Constitution." -Ron Paul
----
"...a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." -John F. Kennedy
Morning Laurie :)
Missed this one!