ATA: The Story of America's Largest Defunct Charter and Low Cost Carrier

American Trans Air, also known as "ATA Airlines", was the USA's largest charter airline in the 1980s through the 2000s, and was a strong competitor in the Low Cost Carrier air service market. ATA flew millions of passengers to their holiday destinations, and transported the most military troops overseas compared to any other US airline for over 35 years (1973-2008). Their rise to fame was humble, their hay days glorious, and their downfall a painful struggle to stay alive. This video will focus more on the public commercial service portion of ATA and a little bit on the airline's military and charter history. #defunct #defunctairlines #ata #americantransair IATA Code: TZ IACO Code: AMT Callsign: "Amtran" Years Active: 1973 - 2008 Headquarters: Indianapolis, IN Primary Hub: Indianapolis (IND) Focus Cities/Secondary Hubs: Chicago (MDW), Oakland (OAK), Honolulu (HNL) Fate: Bankrupt (acquired by Southwest Airlines) Like and subscribe for more videos! Instagram: @avgeek_747 SOME CLARIFICATIONS Some relevant facts about ATA have been left out for story purposes to grasp the big picture/chain of events. Smaller facts such as ATA's exact charter logistics/ops, certain aircraft introductions and retirements, shorter-lived hub/focus city airports, individuals, reasons for demise, and others pieces of information are not mentioned in this video, but can be explained in the sources provided below. DISCLAIMER This video is made solely for education/entertainment purposes. If you are the owner of any of the copyrighted pictures/clips used in the video and would like them removed, please contact me at [email protected] . Please see document link provided below for a full list of media sources. Plane spotting clips credit to PDX Aviation    / buybygb   ATA Commercials/Media:    • Video      • ATA Airlines L-1011 Safety Video and Ameri...      • January 1997 - ATA's "Anti-Freeze Fares" A...      • Video      • March 5, 2001 - The ATA "Two to Go" Sale      • ATA Airlines New Hire Orientation Video      • Farewell American Trans Air      • Everyday Low Fares      • ATA Cleared for Landing      • On ATA, You're On Vacation!      • George Mikelsons New Hire Employee Orienta...   Other Media: https://www.videvo.net/video/parasail...    • Boeing 707 Launch Commercial (Pan American)      • FedEx MD-10-30 (DC-10) [N304FE] Landing Po...      • Free Airport Passengers Terminal Stock Vid...      • Video   https://www.youtube.com/results?searc...    • Video      • LEGO pieces building wall - HD stock foota...      • Video      • Delta Airlines A320 [N371NW] Takeoff Portl...   List Of Citations: Images are licensed under Creative Commons and/or GDFL. See linked document for further information about authors and image links: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l...