Low-fare carrier ATA Airlines Inc. said Thursday it has filed for bankruptcy- court protection, grounding all flights and stranding thousands of passengers.
Indianapolis-based ATA operated 44 flights a day. The carrier stopped serving Denver International Airport in 2006, but it had a code-share agreement with Southwest Airlines that allowed Southwest customers to book flights to Hawaii and other destinations on ATA.
“We deeply regret the disruption and hardship caused by the sudden shutdown of ATA, an outcome we and our employees had worked very hard and made many sacrifices to avoid,” Doug Yakola, the airline’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.
ATA said it was forced to ground operations because it lost a key military charter contract. In addition to scheduled airline service, ATA also provided charter service for the Pentagon. Denver Post staff and wire reports
