This hilarious collection of cabin announcements was made by Kurt Stecker who recorded them during his time at ATA airlines. The clip is part comedy and part tribute to ATA, which ceased operation on April 2nd 2008.
The end of ATA put 2300 people out of work, and stranded almost 10,000 passengers around the country. Still, it is obvious from the clip that at least one person working with ATA had a great time, as he puts on a fantastic show to entertain his passengers.
Passengers flying on ATA Airlines today are in for a surprise when they get to the airport. This morning, with practically no advance notice, the Indianapolis-based airline announced that they had declared bankruptcy, canceled all flights and ceased operations.
The cause of their collapse, in addition to the obvious stratospheric jet fuel prices, was in the loss of a key military contract that they had been relying on to maintain operations. Between those and and an extremely competitive market, the airline could no longer operate in the black.
Passengers in ATA’s hub cities, Chicago, San Francisco (Oakland), and Honolulu will be the most affected by the cancellations. If any of you have reservations and booked with a credit card, ATA suggests that you contact your credit card company for a refund. But if you paid by other means, you may have to jump through a few extra hoops before you get your money back; as our friends at Elliott.org write this morning, you’re going to have to file a claim in ATA’s Chapter 11 proceedings if you ever want to see part of that money again.
And so comes to close another small American budget airline, pushed out of business by high oil prices, competition and operating costs in a market that was just too tight to sustain it. With the collapse of the airline goes 2,200 employees, 29 aircraft and 35 years of hard work.
Farewell.