ATA's bankruptcy strands troops

[Hatu]

Colonel Pete Brooks says the members of the 218th Brigade Combat team were expected to arrive at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Tuesday after their year in Afghanistan, but the bankruptcy of ATA Airlines, the airline contracted to fly the troops home, left them stranded.

Troops' deployment and return flights are arranged by the Air Force, which contracts with civilian airlines. Brooks says they're working at the highest level of the Air Force to get the soldiers home, but there's no update on when they'll be back.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8178144

 

[700UW]

Actually blame FedEx, they contracted ATA to fly the troops and pulled the contract from ATA, so the blames lays with FedEx.

ATA Demise Deprives US Military Of Largest Civilian Carrier

CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--The collapse of ATA Airlines Inc. on Thursday has deprived the U.S. military of its largest civilian air carrier.

The Indianapolis airline filed for bankruptcy protection and ceased all operations Thursday morning, blaming the "unexpected" termination of a military transport subcontract overseen by FedEx Corp. (FDX).

ATA said it was the largest provider of transport for U.S. military personnel and their families under the program run by the Air Mobility Command, or AMC, of the U.S. Air Force.

FedEx was unable to comment on whether it would ask other airlines to fill the gap left by ATA.

 

[jimntx]

Although we (AA) have done some CRAF (I think that was the acronym) flying in the past, this is a bad time, right at the beginning of the Summer travel season, for any of the majors to divert a/c to charter operations. I wonder how FedEx will handle this.

 

[Travelpro72]

Can't the government seize an a/c from from any US airline to use for lift? Technically we are at war still so. I don't know the answer but seriously curious. I was speaking with a former World f/a and she was talking about how the government would demand an a/c and their trips would be switched from their original plan. Considering the loss of ATA lift is why I'm asking.

 

[700UW]

Civil Reserve Air Fleet
The Civil Reserve Air Fleet is made up of US civil air carriers who are committed by contract to provid-ing operating and support personnel for DOD. The CRAF program is designed to quickly mobilize our nation’s airlift resources to meet DOD force projec-tion requirements. CRAF airlift services are divided into four operational segments:
Long-range international-strategic intertheater operations.
Short-range international theater operations.
Domestic CONUS-DOD supply distribution.
Alaskan-Aerospace Defense Command support.

The CRAF airlift capability can be activated in three stages. These stages are as follows:
Stage I. Stage I may be activated by the USCINCTRANSCOM,1 to perform airlift services when the AMC airlift force cannot meet simultaneously both deployment and other traffic requirements.
Stage II. Stage II is an additional airlift expansion identified for an airlift emergency which does not warrant national mobilization but may be activated by authority of the SECDEF.
Stage III. Stage III makes available the total CRAF airlift capability when required for DOD operations during major military emergencies involving US Forces. The SECDEF issues the order to activate CRAF stage III only after a national emergency has been declared by the President or Congress.

CRAF was activated for the first time in its history on 17 August 1990 when stage I aircraft were called up in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Despite a few minor problems, which have since been addressed, the activation of the CRAF was very successful. Commercial airlines are motivated to participate in the CRAF program in part by the opportunity to compete for DoD peacetime business. In the past several years, the volume of that available business base has been expanded by over a billion dollars. That was a strong factor in overcoming resistance to CRAF participation in the wake of the Gulf War. The possibility of opening up the DoD small package business to commercial carriers--another $200-$400 million--is now also being considered. Military airfields are being opened to CRAF carriers for operations and bad weather alternates as additional incentives for CRAF participation.

CRAF April info

CRAF info

 

[jimntx]

Can't the government seize an a/c from from any US airline to use for lift? Technically we are at war still so. I don't know the answer but seriously curious. I was speaking with a former World f/a and she was talking about how the government would demand an a/c and their trips would be switched from their original plan. Considering the loss of ATA lift is why I'm asking.

Yes, they can. As I understand, they would prefer not to, but will if necessary. That's why they contract with FedEx and others to provide this service. Of course, FedEx then sub-contracted it to ATA. If FedEx can not find a replacement among the charter airlines, it might prove to be a very interesting Summer for International operations at all our airlines.