Editing ATA Airlines (section)

===First bankruptcy===
After the economic upheaval caused by the [[9/11 attacks]] upon the airline industry of the United States, ATA and its then parent company AMTRAN suffered substantial financial hardships. Among the small group of airlines to receive [[Air Transportation Stabilization Board|ATSB]] backing from the US Government, this alone proved not enough for American Trans Air to remain out of reorganization caused from the hardships and ill-timing of the refleeting to 737-800s just prior to the [[September 11th attacks|terrorism attacks]].

On October 26, 2004, ATA Holdings and its subsidiaries filed for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection]]. Eventually, shareholders of ATA Holdings stock lost all their money and received no shares.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?id=16162 |title=ATA Moves Closer to Emerging From Bankruptcy |publisher=Inside Indiana Business |access-date=August 9, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029070432/http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?id=16162 |archive-date=October 29, 2014 }}</ref> The stock, previously traded on the [[Nasdaq]] stock exchange as "ATAH", was delisted.

In 2004, [[AirTran Airways]] agreed to pay $90 million for ATA's 14 gates at Chicago-Midway. Southwest made a higher bid and the deal with AirTran fell apart.

In December 2004, ATA entered into an agreement with [[Southwest Airlines]] to transfer six gates at [[Chicago Midway International Airport]] and 27% of non-voting stock in exchange for a cash influx and a [[codeshare agreement]].

In the beginning of 2005, the airline drastically reduced flights at its Indianapolis hub to only three destinations and centered scheduled flights at [[Chicago Midway International Airport]] in order to complement Southwest Airlines [[codeshare]] flights. ATA also focused on serving markets that were business oriented and did not have Southwest service, such as [[San Francisco International Airport|San Francisco]], [[Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport|Dallas/Fort Worth]], and [[LaGuardia Airport|New York–LaGuardia]]. Additionally, ATA began offering point-to-point service not connecting to its Midway [[airline hub|Hub]], as to benefit other Southwest Airlines focus cities, such as [[McCarran International Airport|Las Vegas]], [[Orlando International Airport|Orlando]], and [[Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport|Phoenix]], with connections to non-Southwest destinations such as [[Denver International Airport|Denver]] and [[Honolulu International Airport|Hawaii]]. Southwest CEO [[Gary C. Kelly|Gary Kelly]] said that revenues were up nearly 20% due to the new codesharing agreement.

On March 28, 2005, ATA shut down its [[commuter airline]] service, [[ATA Connection]] operated by [[Chicago Express Airlines]] via a [[codeshare]] agreement, and later sold the assets to a private buyer. ATA Connection had initially operated [[British Aerospace Jetstream 31]] turboprops which were then replaced with [[Saab 340B]] turboprops and was providing passenger feed for ATA at Chicago Midway Airport via a code sharing agreement. In attempt to reduce operating costs, the airline also downsized its fleet by returning twenty Boeing 737-800 and eight Boeing 757-300 aircraft, along with numerous Boeing 757-200 aircraft. The eight 757-300 airframes were subsequently refurbished by Boeing, the lessor, and then leased to [[Continental Airlines]].

In mid-2005, ATA entered an agreement to lease three ex-[[United Airlines]] [[Boeing 737 Classic|Boeing 737-300]] aircraft. Three 737-300s entered service with ATA in late November 2005. Due to high lease rates, the three 737-300s were taken out of service in November 2007, and returned to their owners.

In September 2005, ATA [[Outsourcing|outsourced]] all its Heavy Maintenance Checks to overseas and domestic contractors. Also planned was an agreement with [[Continental Airlines]] to trade ATA's remaining four 757-300 aircraft for four 737-700 aircraft. In early October 2005, ATA terminated these negotiations due to the [[Boeing]] machinists strike, which would have delayed the delivery of the aircraft.

On October 13, 2005, ATA announced major service reductions, ending flights to [[Boston]], [[Minneapolis/St. Paul]], and [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]]. In addition, the planned addition of flights to [[Miami, Florida|Miami]] and [[Sarasota, Florida]] was canceled. This ended Southwest [[codeshare]] service to Minneapolis and Newark. Later that year, on November 1, 2005, a second round of flight cuts were announced, including the suspension of scheduled service to [[Denver]], [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], and their headquarters and former hub, Indianapolis.

On November 17, 2005, ATA Airlines received court approval to sell its Ambassadair Travel Club division to [[Grueninger Cruises and Tours]].

In a third round of cuts announced on December 6, 2005, ATA announced that it would discontinue service to three additional cities. ATA suspended flights from [[Chicago Midway International Airport]] to [[San Francisco]], [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], and [[Fort Myers, Florida|Fort Myers]] in late April 2006. Following these cancellations, ATA had only 18 daily scheduled departures from its former Chicago hub and 52 scheduled departures company-wide. Moreover, the company was left with only one gate at Midway, down from its previous total of 14, surrendering the balance to Southwest or the airport.

On December 15, 2005, ATA announced an expansion of its codeshare agreement with [[Southwest Airlines]] between [[Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport]] and cities in the Southwest system that connected via Chicago Midway International Airport.

In January 2006, [[MatlinPatterson]] and certain pre-bankruptcy creditors invested over $100 million in ATA and took the company private, also taking over ATA Holdings, Inc. Following the transaction, on February 28, 2006, ATA emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. However, the airline was still shrinking. ATA continued to return more aircraft, including the 1,500th Boeing 737 Next Generation produced, N333TZ, which had been delivered new to ATA on May 14, 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0578884/M/ |title=TZ receives 1,500th 737NG |publisher=Airliners.net |date=April 5, 2008 |access-date=August 9, 2013}}</ref>