Everything about Airtran Airways totally explained
AirTran Airways is a
low-cost airline that's a
Delaware corporation with headquarters in
Orlando,
Florida,
USA and is a subsidiary of
AirTran Holdings. AirTran operates over 750 daily flights throughout the eastern USA and the
Midwest, including over 270 daily departures from
Atlanta. It is the world's largest
Boeing 717 operator. AirTran's principal hub is at
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and the airline's parent company, AirTran Holdings, is headquartered at
Orlando International Airport, where AirTran also maintains a secondary hub.
History
Early years
The airline was established in June 1993 and started operations on
October 26,
1993 as
Conquest Sun Airlines. It was renamed
AirTran Airways in August 1994. At the time, AirTran had a similar name to
American Trans Air (otherwise known as ATA) and this led to a confusion over branding.
Following objections from
Northwest Airlines to AirTran Airways' entry into the jet carrier business, its parent company signed an agreement with Northwest for the spin-off to shareholders of the non-airline businesses. They became part of a new holding company,
AirWays Corporation,
In July 1997, AirWays Corporation announced a merger with
ValuJet Airlines. In one of the U.S. airline industry's first
reverse mergers, ValuJet was re-named AirTran Airways in 1997. This was done because the firm's public image never recovered from the crash of
ValuJet Flight 592. On
September 24,
1997 the parent company became AirTran Holdings Inc, and operations under new management began on
September 1,
1998.
In October 1997, AirTran began assigning seats on its planes. AirTran has previously offered first come, first served, onboard seating (known by passengers as "the cattle call"), a practice popular with high-frequency, low-fare carriers (notably
Southwest Airlines). The next month they added Business Class seats on every flight. Previously all flights had been in an all-coach (all-economy class) configuration. The old routes from Orlando by AirTran were systematically ended following the merger with ValuJet Airlines to focus on Atlanta. In March 1998, AirTran began a frequent flier program called A+ Rewards. In June 1998,
Entrepreneur Magazine gave the airline its 1998 award for "Best Domestic Low-Fare Airline". The airline also won this award in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005. In July 1998, AirTran reported its first profitable quarter since early 1996.
On
September 24,
1999 AirTran Airways became the first airline in the world to take delivery of the
Boeing 717; it entered service on
October 12,
1999. On
December 12,
2000, AirTran launched services from Atlanta to its first international destination,
Grand Bahama Island.
Following the
terrorist attacks on
September 11,
2001, AirTran reduced its flight schedule by 20%. However, on
October 7,
2001, AirTran returned to its normal schedule. The airline also took temporary concessions from several employee groups, and restored pay 45 days later. On
October 15,
2001, AirTran became the first airline in the nation to reinforce the cockpit doors on all its aircraft, although with one of the smallest fleets of any US airlines and a much smaller service area, this was a greatly simplified task by comparison. In November 2002, AirTran entered into an agreement with
Air Wisconsin to provide regional jet service on some AirTran routes to free up Boeing 717 aircraft, a service called
AirTran JetConnect. This agreement was terminated in mid-2004.
In June 2003, AirTran began new services operated by
Ryan International Airlines to
Denver,
Las Vegas, and
Los Angeles using Ryan International Airbus A320s painted in Air Tran livery, making it a coast-to-coast airline.
A growing company
On
July 1,
2003, AirTran placed an order for 100
Boeing 737 aircraft. In October 2003, AirTran began services to
Washington, D.C.'s
Reagan National Airport, and to
San Francisco the following month.
On
January 5,
2004 AirTran's last
Douglas DC-9 was retired, leaving it with a fleet of more than 70 Boeing 717s. The first Boeing 737 entered AirTran's fleet in June 2004, ending the service by Ryan. Later in 2004, AirTran sought a major expansion at Chicago-Midway Airport by buying the leases to
ATA Airlines 14 gates.
Southwest Airlines made a higher bid for the gates, and AirTran lost the deal.
On
May 23,
2006, AirTran accepted one of the last two Boeing 717s delivered in a ceremony with Midwest Airlines, who accepted the other 717.
New services
AirTran offers 100 channels of
XM satellite radio as in-flight entertainment on board all its aircraft in both business class and coach. It used
Elton John's face as a promotional tool for the new service. In June 2007, AirTran began charging passengers $5.00 to guarantee an aisle or window seat and $20 to book a roomier emergency exit row seat.
In November 2006, AirTran Airways partnered with
Frontier Airlines, allowing frequent flyers to earn airline miles in either AirTran's A+ Rewards, or Frontier's EarlyReturns frequent flyer program. This is known as reciprocal earning (as opposed to reciprocal redemption). In addition the airlines will refer customers to each other when appropriate.
Expanding route map
In June 2005, AirTran announced plans to launch services from
Atlanta and
Tampa to
Cancún,
Mexico, though shelved the plans following the damage caused by
Hurricane Wilma. On
November 28,
2006, AirTran announced new daily nonstop service from
Atlanta (ATL) to
Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX) which began on
February 15,
2007. The new service to Phoenix resulted from an AirTran Airways' online survey which asked consumers, “Where do you want low fares next?”
On
January 10,
2007, AirTran started service to
Daytona Beach (DAB) and to
Newburgh (SWF) utilizing their
Boeing 717 aircraft. Service to
St. Louis began on
May 8,
2007, and service to
San Diego began on
May 24,
2007. On
February 22,
2007, AirTran announced new nonstops from their
Atlanta hub (ATL) to
Charleston, SC (CHS); five days later, on
February 27,
2007, AirTran also announced the addition of new nonstops from
Baltimore (BWI) and
Orlando (MCO) to
Portland, Maine (PWM).
In February 2008, AirTran announced daily non-stop service between
Atlanta and
San Antonio, which will begin on
June 7,
2008. On May 21, AirTran will also add Burlington, VT with three daily flights to Baltimore-Washington.
Recently, AirTran has shifted its attention to building up their operations at
General Mitchell International Airport. The airline is now trying to compete directly with rival
Midwest Airlines after Midwest chose not to agree to AirTran's bid to purchase the airline. AirTran has said that Mitchell Airport will become the airline's next focus city. AirTran was recently awarded 2 additional gates at General Mitchell International Airport which doubled their number of gates at the airport to 4.
Failed acquisition
In December of 2006 Air Tran Holdings announced that it had been trying to acquire
Midwest Air Group. The details on this acquisition are in the
AirTran Holdings article.
On
August 12,
2007, AirTran announced its attempt to purchase
Midwest Airlines had expired, while
TPG Capital, in partnership with
Northwest Airlines, had entered into an agreement to purchase Midwest Airlines for an amount larger than the AirTran Airways proposal. However, on
August 14,
2007, AirTran increased its offer to the equivalent of $16.25 a share, slightly more than the $16 a share from TPG Capital investors group. However, Midwest announced TPG would increase its offer to $17 per share and a definitive agreement had been reached late on
August 16,
2007.
Problems with unions
On
September 21,
2007, AirTran pilots, represented by the
National Pilots Association, rejected the carrier's contract proposal. Two weeks earlier, the pilots voted to dump the union president and vice president.
Destinations
AirTran Airways flies to 57 destinations throughout the
United States. Its destination count will remain at 57 when the airline begins service to
San Antonio, Texas on
June 11, and ends service to
Daytona Beach, Florida on
May 28,
2008.
New routes
AirTran Airways will begin service from the following cities to their listed destinations beginning on the listed date. Some routes listed below may already be operated by AirTran Airways from other destinations.
Daily nonstop service between San Antonio, TX (SAT) and Atlanta, GA (ATL) begins June 11, 2008
Discontinued routes
Daily nonstop service between Daytona Beach, FL (DAB) and Atlanta, GA (ATL) ends May 28, 2008
Nonstop service between Flint, MI (FNT) and Las Vegas, NV (LAS) ends June 25, 2008
Nonstop service between Rochester, NY (ROC) and Las Vegas, NV (LAS) ends July 12, 2008
Fleet
AirTran operates one of the youngest Boeing fleets in the industry. As of May 2008, AirTran has 141 aircraft in its fleet consisting of:
AirTran Airways Fleet>
| Aircraft |
Total |
Passengers
(Business/Economy) |
Notes |
| Boeing 717-200 |
87 |
117 (12/105) |
Launch customer
Largest Boeing 717 fleet of any airline
Fleet includes First & Last 717 ever built |
| Boeing 737-700 |
54
(65 orders) |
137 (12/125) |
|
As of May 2008, AirTran's average fleet age was 4.8 years old.
Cabin
AirTran Airways operates under a two-class configuration with Business Class and the main cabin. All seats feature live, on-demand XM Satellite Radio. AirTran serves snacks and Coca-Cola products. In the main cabin, alcoholic beverages can be purchased for a $6.00 fee, where in Business Class they're complimentary. AirTran is a cashless airline and only accepts credit and debit cards for onboard purchases. All passengers receive a copy of the airline's magazine Go! in their seat-back pockets.
Livery
AirTran's livery is primarily white, with teal on the ventral side. The sections are divided by parallel red and blue stripes, which runs roughly horizontal at the front, and starts to curve upward at the wings until it reaches the top side of the plane at the back of the vertical stabilizer. The nacelles are royal blue, with "airtran.com" written in white Helvetica font. The logo version of "AirTran" is written toward the front on either side in teal above the passenger windows, and the vertical stabilizer is teal with a prominent white cursive "A", just like the beginning of the logo. Unlike previous liveries, the 737 nacelles are also painted. (737: N279AT
, 717: N892AT)
Many planes still carry the previous livery, which has a completely tan front divided from a completely teal rear by an oblique ring of parallel red and blue stripes just behind the wings. The livery coincided with the acquisition of ValuJet, and applied to all of ValuJet's DC-9s. The nacelles on the DC-9 are also teal in this livery, while the nacelles on the 737 went unpainted. The 717s, when introduced, received a paint scheme identical in pattern to the DC-9s. (737: N737Q, 717: N978AT, DC-9: N902VJ, A320: N941LF)
The original livery was primarily white and green on the dorsal side, and blue on the ventral side, with a red stripe roughly horizontal between. The nacelles in this livery went unpainted. No 717 or DC-9 was ever painted in the original livery. (737: N467AT)
Incidents and accidents
» See also: Previous Incidents and Accidents as ValuJet
Although ValuJet, which was bought by AirTran, is infamous for the ValuJet Flight 592 disaster, AirTran itself hasn't yet suffered an accident that has led to loss of life.
AirTran Airways Incidents and Accidents>
| Flight |
Date |
Aircraft |
Location |
Description |
Injuries
|
| Fatal |
Serious |
Minor |
AirTran Airways 867
Summary |
November 1, 1998 |
Boeing 737-200 |
Atlanta, GA |
Lost control and skidded off of the runway while landing, with main landing gear in a drainage ditch and its empennage extending over the taxiway. The nose gear was folded back into the electrical/electronic compartment and turned 90 degrees from its normal, extended position. The cause was an improperly repaired hydraulic line leak. |
|
|
13 |
AirTran Airways 913
Summary |
August 8, 2000 |
Douglas DC-9-32 |
Greensboro, NC |
Executed an emergency landing due to an in-flight fire and smoke in the cockpit. |
|
|
13 |
AirTran Airways 956
Summary |
November 29, 2000 |
Douglas DC-9-32 |
Atlanta, GA |
Executed an emergency landing shortly after takeoff, due to an electrical fire that caused smoke in the forward cabin. |
|
|
13 |
AirTran Airways 356
Summary |
March 26, 2003 |
Boeing 717-200 |
Flushing, New York, NY |
PCDU failure that caused an electrical smell leading to a precautionary landing and evacuation. |
|
1 |
22 |
AirTran Airways 852
Summary |
March 5, 2004 |
Boeing 717-200 |
Atlanta, GA |
Total electrical system failure. |
|
|
5 |
Further Information
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