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ATA bankruptcy won’t strand troops

Military air passengers won’t be affected by the recent bankruptcy filing of ATA Airlines, military and corporate officials say.

ATA has long provided military charter flights as part of the conglomerate FedEx Teaming Arrangement, but filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy April 2. The conglomerate also includes FedEx, Air Transport International, Atlas Air, Northwest Airlines, Omni Air International and Polar Air Cargo Worldwide.

ATA was scheduled to provide 70 military flights through Sept. 30 under the contract between U.S. Transportation Command and FedEx. FedEx will honor those flights, filling in with other members of the FedEx Team, said FedEx spokeswoman Sandra Munoz. Air Mobility Command officials acknowledged that discussions were underway to reschedule those flights.

FedEx had decided to remove ATA from its military charter team for the upcoming fiscal year, Munoz said, declining to discuss details of the business arrangement. ATA’s bankruptcy filing papers state that ATA and FedEx had an agreement that ATA would stay with the team for the next fiscal year, but it did not imply that the agreement was legally binding.

While the loss of the military charter business essentially ruined ATA’s business model, the airline’s decision to voluntarily shut down all operations April 3 came as a surprise to FedEx, Munoz said.