Southwest code-share partner halts all operations

ATA Airlines, which repeatedly shrunk its scheduled passenger operations over the past few years, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and grounded all flights. The carrier, a code-share partner of Southwest Airlines, blamed the sudden action on the loss of a key military charter contract, which “made it impossible for ATA to obtain additional capital,” the company said. Also playing a big role in the carrier’s troubles was the “tremendous spike in the price of jet fuel in recent months,” ATA added. The airline said its frequent flyer program and all accumulated points have been canceled. Information for travelers booked on ATA flights is at www.ata.com or by calling 800-435-9282. Southwest Airlines -- which has been code-sharing with ATA since 2005, and took over a number of former ATA gates and routes at Chicago Midway -- said it would assist passengers booked on ATA flights purchased as Southwest code-shares by rebooking them on a new itinerary or offering full refunds for unused portions of a ticket. Southwest said it will contact affected customers, or they can call 800-308-5037.

Within the past few months, ATA stopped flying form Chicago Midway to Washington Reagan National, New York LaGuardia and Ontario, California. Last month, the airline announced plans to discontinue scheduled service in mid-April from Midway to Oakland and Dallas/Ft. Worth; and on June 7 to Cancun and Guadalajara, Mexico, ending its presence at Midway. Until its shut-down, ATA was still operating about 50 flights a day, mostly to Hawaii from Oakland, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas, fed by Southwest Airlines’ domestic network; and it recently announced plans – now scrapped -- to fly from Miami to Guatemala City and to San Jose, Costa Rica. Hawaiian Airlines said it will take up some of the slack by launching Oakland-Honolulu flights on May 1.