rohiniu

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AirTran Holdings is a Nevada corporation, based in Orlando, Florida, United States, that operates as an airline holding company. Its primary asset is AirTran Airways. After the large amount of negative publicity surrounding the Flight 592 disaster, ValuJet Airlines suffered serious financial problems. On July 11, 1997, ValuJet announced it would merge with the much smaller Airways Corporation, the owner of Orlando, Florida based AirTran Airways. In November 1997, AirTran announced it would move its headquarters to Orlando from Atlanta; on November 17, 1997, AirWays Corp. and ValuJet completed their merger and the name ValuJet was dropped. On January 6, 1999, the board of directors of AirTran announced that Joseph Leonard had been elected to the position of Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of the company.
On August 15, 2002, AirTran stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Distribution Strategy
AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc., signing of a new five-year agreement with travel giant Sabre Holdings through which the airline commits to make all its fares and inventory available through the Sabre Travel Network global distribution system (GDS) and Travelocity.

In addition, Travelocity Partner Network (TPN), Travelocity's private label booking business, will become the sole supplier of hotel, cruise and AirTran Vacations packaging content for the AirTran Web Site, http://www.airtran.com.

"This new long-term agreement is significant to AirTran Airways in the sense that, as our airline evolves the channels of distribution must also evolve," said Kevin Healy, AirTran Airways' vice president of planning. "Distributing through multiple Sabre Holdings channels lets us conveniently serve our customers -- both business and leisure flyers -- and maintain our low-cost structure. AirTran Airways and Sabre Holdings are committed to creating distribution efficiencies through both current and emerging technologies."

The Sabre GDS provides an electronic marketplace that enables airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines and other travel suppliers to sell their products to corporate and leisure travelers through 50,000 global travel agency locations, the world's largest agency network. Travelocity, the fastest growing online travel agency, is committed to a customer-driven focus. Great prices, live 24/7 phone support and powerful shopping technology have made Travelocity the fifth largest travel agency in the U.S.

In December 2006, AirTran Holdings made public that in December 2005 it had approached the Board of Directors of Midwest Air Group -- owner of Midwest Airlines and Skyway Airlines which operates as Midwest Connect -- and had asked the board negotiate a sale of the company. That AirTran offer in 2005 was rebuffed by Midwest's board, which also rebuffed a second offer in late 2006. In December 2006, AirTran disclosed the rejection of both offers in hopes of bringing shareholder pressure on Midwest's board to reconsider, which the board recommended that shareholders reject.
On December 13, 2006, AirTran announced that it had made an offer to acquire Midwest Airlines, another operator of the Boeing 717. The offer has since been rejected by the Midwest board. On January 11, 2007, AirTran sweetened its offer for Midwest to $13.25 a share from $11.25 a share, valued at US$290 million, or a 24% premium over Midwest's trading price at the time, and AirTran took its renewed bid directly to Midwest shareholders, bypassing Midwest's board of directors; with an offer that expires on April 11, 2007. On April 2, 2007 AirTran raised its bid to $15 a share, in what CEO Joe Leonard called AirTran's final bid.

The low-cost leader also has new marketing partnership with SkyWest Airlines to support its Milwaukee focus city. In this unique partnership, SkyWest Airlines, Inc., a subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. will offer regional jet service between Milwaukee and six destinations, including: Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Akron/Canton, Ohio, Indianapolis, Des Moines, Iowa, and Omaha, Neb. Seats on these flights will be sold in conjunction with AirTran Airways flights with revenue shared on a pro-rated basis.

"The AirTran Airways business model is based on providing quality service in a fast, efficient and cost effective manner; Kayak.com is an equally efficient company with an innovative product and strategy," said Kevin Healy, vice president of planning for AirTran Airways. "A strategic partnership with Kayak.com allows AirTran Airways to increase channels of distribution as we expand our network."

"Kayak.com searches more than 100 travel sites for comprehensive price and itinerary combinations and displays options in an efficient, easy-to-read format that allows travelers to sort and filter results to find their ideal flight," said Keith Melnick, Kayak's vice president of business development. "AirTran Airways has a commitment to its customers to provide information on the lowest fares from their destination and we know that our partnership with the airline will allow us to do just that."
 
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