meyers9163
Well-Known Member
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080611/
Bankrupt passenger carrier ATA Airlines shed some light today on the reason FedEx abruptly canceled a $400 million Pentagon charter that ATA relied on to stay in business.
FedEx pushed out ATA to accommodate Northwest Airlines’ request for the military passenger business, ATA said in a lawsuit filed against FedEx in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis-based ATA stopped all operations in April, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is selling off its assets. There are no plans to revive the defunct airline, which has let go almost all of its 2,200 employees.
Its deal with FedEx traces to a general Pentagon contract the Memphis, Tenn., cargo line has to haul troops and military freight. FedEx can hand segments of the contract to other carriers. For years, ATA ferried U.S. troops to bases worldwide under the arrangement, which became the financial mainstay for ATA after it emerged from bankruptcy in 2006.
In January, FedEx said it would cancel ATA’s participation in the deal. No reason was stated publicly. After revealing the deal had been canceled, ATA announced it would liquidate operations.
In the lawsuit, ATA calls FedEx’s actions malicious and asks for unspecified punitive damages. ATA contends actual damages are $30 million and with special undisclosed consequences could exceed $150 million.
ATA is part of Atlanta-based Global Aero Logistics, an airline operator owned by New York hedge fund Matlin Patterson.
FedEx officials could not be reached for comment.
Call Star reporter Ted Evanoff at (317) 444-6019
So Perhaps those planes wont end up at FEDEX?
Bankrupt passenger carrier ATA Airlines shed some light today on the reason FedEx abruptly canceled a $400 million Pentagon charter that ATA relied on to stay in business.
FedEx pushed out ATA to accommodate Northwest Airlines’ request for the military passenger business, ATA said in a lawsuit filed against FedEx in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis-based ATA stopped all operations in April, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is selling off its assets. There are no plans to revive the defunct airline, which has let go almost all of its 2,200 employees.
Its deal with FedEx traces to a general Pentagon contract the Memphis, Tenn., cargo line has to haul troops and military freight. FedEx can hand segments of the contract to other carriers. For years, ATA ferried U.S. troops to bases worldwide under the arrangement, which became the financial mainstay for ATA after it emerged from bankruptcy in 2006.
In January, FedEx said it would cancel ATA’s participation in the deal. No reason was stated publicly. After revealing the deal had been canceled, ATA announced it would liquidate operations.
In the lawsuit, ATA calls FedEx’s actions malicious and asks for unspecified punitive damages. ATA contends actual damages are $30 million and with special undisclosed consequences could exceed $150 million.
ATA is part of Atlanta-based Global Aero Logistics, an airline operator owned by New York hedge fund Matlin Patterson.
FedEx officials could not be reached for comment.
Call Star reporter Ted Evanoff at (317) 444-6019
So Perhaps those planes wont end up at FEDEX?
