is a
Low-cost Airline based in
Orlando ,
Florida ,
USA and is a subsidiary of
AirTran Holdings . AirTran operates over 500 daily flights throughout the eastern USA and the
Midwest , including over 130 daily departures from
Atlanta . It is the world's largest
Boeing 717 operator. Its main base is
Orlando International Airport , with a principal hub at
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport . The airline also operates smaller "
Focus City " operations at
Philadelphia International Airport ,
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport ,
Chicago Midway International Airport , and
Akron /
Canton (
Akron-Canton Regional Airport ).
The airline was established in June
1993 and started operations on
October 26 ,
1993 as . It was renamed AirTran Airways in August
1994 .
Following objections from
Northwest Airlines to AirTran Airways's 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 , which also owned
Mesaba Airlines .
In July 1997 AirWays Corporation announced a merger with
ValuJet Airlines parent company ValuJet as a way to put behind it the May 1996 crash of
ValuJet Flight 592 . On
September 24 ,
1997 the parent companies became AirTran Holdings Inc, ValuJet was renamed AirTran Airways and operations under that name 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 as "open seating" in the airline industry), 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. In June 1998,
Entrepreneur Magazine gave the airline its 1998 award for "Best Domestic Low-Fare Airline". They 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. On
October 15 , 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 ,
Los Angeles and
Las Vegas , making it a coast-to-coast airline. In 2004, an engine cowling broke off in-flight from a
Ryan International Airlines A320 painted in AirTran's colors and operated as an AirTran Flight. AirTran came under fire after they maintained that it was not their aircraft and so it was not their responsibility because this was reminiscient of when
ValuJet Airlines (now AirTran) executives testified that they outsourced maintenance and safety, so the crash of
ValuJet Flight 592 was not their fault.
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 Int'l.
AirTran recently completed the process of installing in-flight entertainment onboard all its aircraft in both Business class and coach. AirTran Airways features over 100 channels of
XM Satellite Radio and has used
Elton John 's face as a promotional tool for the new service.
In June 2005, AirTran announced plans to launch services from
Atlanta and
Tampa to
Cancún ,
Mexico , its second international destination, beginning in December. However, following the damage caused by
Hurricane Wilma , the service has been shelved. In the Spring of 2006, AirTran will launch new service to
White Plains ,
New York and seasonal service to
Seattle ,
Washington . Additional non-stop routes will also be added between
Chicago and
Newark ,
Chicago and
Dallas ,
Indianapolis and
Los Angeles ,
Indianapolis and
San Francisco , and
Milwaukee and
Baltimore . Due to high fuel prices, Airtran Airways will be discontinuing non-stop service between
Flint and
Las Vegas and
Akron/Canton and
Las Vegas . These flights may return if fuel prices drop.
''See full article:''
The Air Tran fleet consists of the following aircraft (
As Of March 2006 ):
