ATA Airlines Announces Codeshare Schedule with Southwest Airlines

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- ATA Airlines, Inc. (ATAHQ) today announced the list of cities included in its codeshare alliance with Southwest Airlines . During the first stage of the codeshare alliance, passengers who connect at Chicago-Midway Airport will have the option to travel from one carrier to the other identical to a single carrier connection.

"This codeshare alliance is the first of its kind for low-cost carriers. It is a historic move for ATA and Southwest as customers from both airlines are gaining access to more destinations while both airlines will be able to grow without the added complexity of having to open new markets," said George Mikelsons, ATA's Chairman, President and CEO.

"We're excited about the opportunity the codeshare gives us to offer additional destinations with our famous low fares to our Customers and bring additional traffic and revenues to Southwest Airlines," said Gary Kelly, Southwest's CEO. "Concurrently, we can continue to grow our aircraft fleet, planned at 29 net additional aircraft in 2005, and expand our route system about 10 percent. We are thrilled about our previously announced expansion at Chicago-Midway."

When the codeshare becomes available for sale on Sunday, January 16, ATA passengers can book travel beginning on February 4 to more than 40 Southwest destinations from the 11 ATA cities included in the codeshare agreement. This will create over 200 new city-pairs available for purchase on ATA's System such as Boston-San Diego or New York, LaGuardia-Houston.

ATA passengers in Boston will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Albuquerque, Birmingham, Houston, Indianapolis, Jackson (Miss), Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Nashville, New Orleans, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Portland*, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Diego and Seattle/Tacoma.

ATA passengers in Denver will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit/Metro, Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood, Hartford/Springfield, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Long Island/MacArthur, Louisville, Manchester, Nashville, New Orleans, Newark*, Orlando, Philadelphia**, Providence, Raleigh-Durham and Tampa Bay.

ATA passengers in Ft. Myers will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Cleveland, Detroit/Metro, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Oakland, Omaha, Phoenix, San Diego and Seattle/Tacoma*.

ATA passengers in Honolulu will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Baltimore/Washington, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit/Metro, Ft. Lauderdale, Indianapolis, Louisville, Manchester, Nashville, Orlando, Providence**, St. Louis and Tampa Bay.

ATA passengers in Minneapolis/St. Paul will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Albuquerque, Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit/Metro, Ft. Lauderdale, Hartford/Springfield, Houston/Hobby, Indianapolis, Jackson (Miss.), Jacksonville, Little Rock, Long Island/MacArthur, Louisville, Manchester, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk***, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Providence, Raleigh-Durham, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Tulsa and West Palm Beach.

ATA Passengers in New York/LaGuardia will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Albuquerque, Birmingham, Houston/Hobby, Jackson (Miss.), Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Ontario, Omaha, Phoenix, Portland*, St. Louis, San Diego, Seattle/Tacoma, Tucson and Tulsa.

ATA passengers in Newark will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Albuquerque, Houston/Hobby, Jackson (Miss.), Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Ontario*, Orange County*, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Diego, Seattle/Tacoma, Sacramento St. Louis, Tucson and Tulsa.

ATA passengers in San Francisco will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit/Metro, Ft. Lauderdale, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Louisville, Manchester, Nashville, Orlando, Providence** and Tampa Bay.

ATA passengers in Sarasota will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Cleveland, Detroit/Metro and Omaha.

ATA passengers in St. Petersburg will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Detroit/Metro, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles*, Oakland, Omaha, Phoenix and Seattle/Tacoma*.

ATA passengers in Washington D.C.-Reagan will be able to connect to/from these Southwest Airlines cities via Chicago-Midway: Albuquerque, Houston/Hobby, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Oakland, Omaha, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Diego and Seattle/Tacoma.

"Customers will have the option to purchase their ticket through either airline, whether via its web site, call center or other preferred means as they do today. We will make connecting from an ATA flight to a Southwest flight as seamless as possible and offer easy, online check-in to all customers, as well as automatic transfer of baggage between airlines to customers' final destinations," said John Happ, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales.

For the time being, ATA's Travel Awards Program and Southwest Airlines' Rapid Rewards program will continue as independent programs with passengers getting credit on the airline where they made their reservation. ATA Travel Awards members will receive 500 points for codeshare round-trips, or 1,000 points if booking on the airline's web site at ata.com. Customers booking their flights through Southwest Airlines will receive two Rapid Rewards credits for each codeshare round-trip flight, with bonus credits available when booking through http://www.southwest.com/.

ATA's new flight schedule for 2005 increases frequency of flights between Chicago-Midway and five of the most popular business destinations, including Boston, Denver, New York, Newark and Minneapolis. The expansion of ATA's flights from Chicago-Midway will bring:

- Eight daily nonstop departures to New York-LaGuardia beginning Feb. 4. - Eight daily nonstop departures to Minneapolis beginning Feb. 4. - Five daily nonstop departures to Boston beginning April 3. - Five daily nonstop departures to Newark beginning April 3. - Five daily nonstop departures to Denver beginning April 3.

Featuring Business Class, leather seats, in-flight entertainment, and easy web check-in, ATA Airlines has grown into the nation's 10th largest passenger carrier (based on revenue passenger miles) and one of the nation's largest low-fare carriers. ATA has one of the youngest, most fuel-efficient fleets among the major carriers, featuring new Boeing 737-800 and 757-300 aircraft. Now in its 32nd year of operation, ATA remains a dominant airline at Indianapolis and Chicago-Midway with significant scheduled service to over 30 business and vacation destinations. For more information, visit http://www.ata.com/.

* Service starts April 3 ** Service starts March 4 *** Service starts March 17 ATA Media Contacts: Erica Keane or Laura Novak (212) 885-0322 / (212) 885-0331 Erica.Keane@HillandKnowlton.com Laura.Novak@HillandKnowlton.com Southwest Airlines Media Contact: Southwest Airlines Public Relations (214) 792-4847 Investor Relations Contact: Roxanne Butler, Investor Relations Specialist (317) 282-2659 investor.relations@iflyata.com