Corporate Obituaries: ATA Airlines

ATA Airlines succumbed to high fuel prices after a lengthy battle with bankruptcy.

The airline, 35, was quickly buried and unceremoniously forgotten. Competitors snapped up ATA’s airport gates after not even a moment of mourning.

ATA last year ended service to Cancun and Guadalajara, Mexico in an effort to cut costs. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2006 after reducing staff, reducing flights and ending aircraft leases. During ATA’s first bankruptcy in 2004, the airline abandoned service to Denver and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

ATA planned to concentrate on flights for the US military, but lost the contract. That left the airline without a business plan and the company immediately flatlined.

Southwest (LUV), the nation’s largest low-fare airline, invested about $20 million in ATA to keep it flying during the second bankruptcy. As part of the deal, Southwest took over ATA gates at Chicago’s Midway Airport and started a marketing alliance. Southwest will seek a new partner for international flights.

In lieu of flowers, mourners are asked to quote the current price of a barrel of oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange.