Nick
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Southwest to buy ATA assets, get New York LaGuardia slots
07:26 PM CST on Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Bloomberg News
Southwest Airlines Co. has agreed to purchase assets of bankrupt ATA Airlines Inc. for $7.5 million to acquire 14 landing slots at New York's LaGuardia airport and enter the nation's biggest aviation market.
Southwest, the largest discount carrier, would buy the slots and ATA's operating certificate, pending U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval, said Bob Montgomery, vice president of properties. A Nov. 21 court hearing on the sale has been set in Indianapolis, where ATA is based.
Serving New York from LaGuardia would put Southwest into the nation's most-congested airport, a break with its practice of shunning crowded facilities. The Dallas-based airline favors secondary airports to cut time between flights, saving money.
"It is a huge step," Montgomery said Tuesday. "It's going into an area we, frankly, didn't think we'd ever be in. We've reached a state of maturity in our system and with the number of aircraft that we have that allows us now to consider something as challenging as LaGuardia."
Southwest would buy a "reorganized" Indianapolis-based ATA, and the purchase wouldn't include aircraft, employees or other facilities, or two slots at Washington's Reagan National airport, Montgomery said.
ATA ceased operations in April after seeking court protection. The Chapter 11 filing came 25 months after the carrier emerged from a previous reorganization.
Southwest to buy ATA assets, get New York LaGuardia slots
07:26 PM CST on Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Bloomberg News
Southwest Airlines Co. has agreed to purchase assets of bankrupt ATA Airlines Inc. for $7.5 million to acquire 14 landing slots at New York's LaGuardia airport and enter the nation's biggest aviation market.
Southwest, the largest discount carrier, would buy the slots and ATA's operating certificate, pending U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval, said Bob Montgomery, vice president of properties. A Nov. 21 court hearing on the sale has been set in Indianapolis, where ATA is based.
Serving New York from LaGuardia would put Southwest into the nation's most-congested airport, a break with its practice of shunning crowded facilities. The Dallas-based airline favors secondary airports to cut time between flights, saving money.
"It is a huge step," Montgomery said Tuesday. "It's going into an area we, frankly, didn't think we'd ever be in. We've reached a state of maturity in our system and with the number of aircraft that we have that allows us now to consider something as challenging as LaGuardia."
Southwest would buy a "reorganized" Indianapolis-based ATA, and the purchase wouldn't include aircraft, employees or other facilities, or two slots at Washington's Reagan National airport, Montgomery said.
ATA ceased operations in April after seeking court protection. The Chapter 11 filing came 25 months after the carrier emerged from a previous reorganization.