I Guess Airlines Also Die in Threes…Goodbye, ATA
Apr 3rd, 2008 | By Jared BlankIt’s been said that celebrities seem to die in groups of three, and so, too, it appears for airlines: ATA announced that after losing a major military charter contract, it will declare bankruptcy and cease operations. More than 2,000 people have been laid off from the 35 year old carrier.
If you’re holding a ticket on ATA, you should contact your credit card company. If you bought a ticket with Southwest that was being flown on ATA metal, you should contact Southwest (you’ll get where you’re going, don’t worry).
Although ATA announced a shutdown of its Midway operations recently, it’s surprising to see the complete collapse so quickly. I (and everyone else, I’m guessing) expected them to continue their life as a charter airline, small but with a future. That all disappeared yesterday, which is especially miserable for the workers.
Sad. Not that I had any loyalties with them. But it’s still sad to see yet another carrier go down, within days of 2 others.
Only flew them once, to HNL in 2003 on a 753 (which was cool). And I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of food we were offered, along with one free cocktail! The flight attendants however, were kinda scary, in look and demeanor.
Anyway, goodbye ATA.