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ATA AIRLINES FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 AND DISCONTINUES OPERATIONS
FOLLOWING CANCELLATION OF KEY MILITARY CHARTER AGREEMENT
Travelers Should Seek Alternative Flight Arrangements;
Ticket Refunds May Be Available From Credit Card Providers
INDIANAPOLIS, April 3, 2008 – ATA Airlines, Inc. today announced that it has filed a
voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The petition was filed
on April 2 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, in the
Indianapolis division. Subsequent to the Chapter 11 filing, ATA discontinued all
operations, effective as of 4 am ET on April 3. A primary factor leading to these actions
was the unexpected cancellation of a key contract for ATA’s military charter business,
which made it impossible for ATA to obtain additional capital to sustain its operations or
restructure the business.
With the shutdown of all operations and cancellation of all ATA flights, ATA is no longer
able to honor any reservations or tickets. ATA customers should seek alternative
arrangements for current and future travel. To that end, ATA has contacted the airlines
that serve ATA destinations and asked them to provide assistance to ATA customers. A
list of other airlines that serve ATA destinations and additional information for ATA
customers is available at www.ata.com. Customer information has also been posted at
all ATA ticket counters and is available at (800) 435-9282. Customers should visit
ata.com for updates as additional information becomes available.
Customers who purchased tickets from ATA using a credit card should contact their
credit card provider directly for more information about how to obtain a refund for unused
tickets. Customers who purchased tickets from Southwest Airlines for flights operated by
ATA through its codeshare agreement should contact Southwest at (800) 308-5037 for
more information. ATA’s frequent flier program and all accumulated frequent flier points
will be canceled. ATA has advised its commercial and military charter customers that
they should make alternative arrangements for future travel needs.
Doug Yakola, chief operating officer of ATA, said: “We deeply regret the disruption and
hardship caused by the sudden shutdown of ATA, an outcome we and our employees
had worked very hard and made many sacrifices to avoid. Unfortunately, the
cancellation of a critical agreement for our military charter business undermined ATA’s
plan to address the current conditions facing all scheduled service airlines, including the
tremendous spike in the price of jet fuel in recent months. As a result, it became
impossible for ATA to continue operating.”
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