Fly ATA?
 

We are looking at flying SF to NY and wondering what people's experiences have been with ATA? It requires one stop but is somehwat cheaper than JET BLUE for our dates and departure times available are slightly more humane.

I think they are a Delta carrier.

Hit send too soon.

I think they are a regional carrier for Delta.

ATA is not associated with Delta. It's an independent airline based in Indianapolis, and is having some financial problems. Just a couple weeks ago, it says it's looking for a buyer for its assets at Chicago Midway.

I have flown ATA numerous times over the past few years, From L.A. to Maui and between L.A. and Tampa/St. Pete. I like them. The planes on which I flew were new, with nice comfy seats. I;'ve never had any ticketing problems. Once when I made a mistake in my booking dates they replaced the ticket for the correct dates FOR FREE, two days after I made the error, and with no hassles. My flights have always ben on time, but I have never taken a flight that connected with Chicago or other foul weather airport. They have an easy FF program--buy three, get one. They have good fares.

But most importantly, they give you ice cream. In days when most airlines don't dare serve nuts and meals are hard to come by, ATA serves ice cream!

I've flown them many times. Their hub is Chicago Midway. Great fares, and you have an assigned seat, unlike Southwest.
They have been excellent at giving me free flights when they have "goofed" and they do "goof."

They have a less than excellent on time record. One time I was totally stuck in NYC because of ATA. (By the time they cancelled the flight- all the other airlines were snowed in or out.) They gave me free roundtrip to San Francisco for that blooper. If you are the kind of person that always wants perfect, you won't like ATA.

They have financial difficulty and I've heard that they are selling their gates at Midway and moving out.

I've also heard the "pull out" is a con, so that they can get better gate fees $$$ from the city of Chicago. I've heard all kinds of things. Don't know what is true. But I do know that they are still hiring airplane mechanics etc. from our aviation school. And I bought tickets from them for next Feb.- just before the big "pull out" announcement last month. So far, it looks like all is still going. Did notice a commercial this week saying, "don't worry- we are still going to be here."

I fly ATA as a first choice. I love their location, and the ease of getting in/ out and there. I'm not picky about exactly what time I get there. I detest O'Hare.

I do know that Chicago has a bunch of airport problems. I'm for the new one in Peotone. Mayor and company are soaking all fees that they can get, big time out of our airports and places like McCormick Place. Many vendors can not long use McCormick because of the fee structure.

But he still has enough gall to chop up an airport at night (Meigs) and then put a "WHO ME!" look on his face the next day.

ATA is fine. I've used them quite a few times to go from coast to coast. But they never offered me ice cream. While departure times might be better for you (I've never had problems with Jet Blue), remember that your arrival time in New York will tend to be much later because of the stopover in Chicago.

We flew them last yr. from MDW to San Juan R/T. It was Ok though we were packed in pretty good. They did have a very good fare for that time however. We saved several hundred dollars.

Flew ATA from Seattle to Chicago last month. No problems at all, other than the snorer I ended up sitting next to on a red-eye flight.

We like Jet Blue better (TVs, and I think I remember a little more legroom), but if ATA's cheaper we wouldn't have any problem with flying ATA again.

We have flown ATA numerous times without problems until last time. We arrived at Midway 1 1/2 hours prior to our flight to San Francisco as they suggest. It was totally crazy. People were in line outside the airport and ATA staff were trying to direct traffic but everyone was telling you something different. We thought we wouldn't make our flight. When we finally got to the desk, the ticket agent didn't even know if we would make our flight. We were told that if we didn't the next two flights (which both were several hours later) were sold out but they would let us fly stand by. Luckily, we just made our flight! I could understand if we got there late but we were there by the required time. We are however flying to St. Pete next weekend so hopefully there won't be any problems. They just seem less organized than United or American. If it matters, I have never been offered ice cream on ATA. They always give you a small bag of peanuts or pretzels and cookies.