American Trans Air

[kathy387]

Anyone have any experiences with them that they can tell me about?!

 

[TinkerbellRules]

Kathy: I posted this under another post:

**We had the same thing happen on ATA 5 yrs ago. I had confirmed the seating before we left only to find out we were switched (they did it to a family of 5 as well). The woman checking people in was really nasty. I told her there was no way my 5 yr old DD was going to fly w/o a parent sitting by her! She said "you can't talk to me that way". I said "what way? I'm not yelling or cussing, but she's NOT flying by herself". DD was worried for about 30 mins, in tears, until I found another flight attendant who said "there's no way your DD will have to fly by herself. We would never allow it." I explained what witchy woman said. She got my DD and I a seat together and DH had to fly alone. I then went to the other desk and had him confirm our flight home. It went well. I sent a letter and all I got was a "we'll look into it". Nothing more.**

On the way back out of Ft Meyers, I had confirmed seats (made the day of departure from Indy) and flew w/o any problems.

Call and confirm your seating assignments. I try to stay away from them because of this, but I'm sure others have flown with no problems. We flew out that year in March, I think. Are you flying out of Indy? I noticed your flying into Midway. I flew there once, but didn't have time to look around because of connecting flight. I liked the smaller airport though. I flew Midway Airlines then.

 

[kathy387]

We're actually flying from Milwaukee to Midway to Orlando and back. We have confirmed seats for the first three legs but not for Midway back to Milwaukee. I really wanted to stick with United because that's who we usually fly with but because of most of Wisconsin having teacher inservice {our kids have Thur. and Fri. off that week} we had a hard time booking and had to go with ATA. I hope they've improved!

 

[mrsmom]

we usally fly ATA and we are a family of 6 and we all get to sit by each other, at least three in a aisle and three in the front aisle. and we even didn't book our seats until we got to the airport, they were very acommadating. we fly every other year.
Mrsmom
All star resort Dec 95'
Holiday Inn sunspree resort Oct 98"
westgate lakes Sept 2000
Hotel royal plaza Feb 2001
Wyndham Palace and spa Sept 2001
Westgate lakes Nov 2002

 

[sgtdisney]

I just got back from Orlando yesterday using ATA and both ways the flights were excellent! The planes left on time and actually arrived at the destinations early. We had no problems with seat assignments or anything. A very good experience. If you have any questions, just ask....

 

[ebockelman]

Disclosure: My wife used to be an ATA employee before we relocated (although not involved at flight operations at all, simply a worker at the corporate office in Indianapolis).

Now, with that out of the way, let me say that I have flown ATA many times and have not had any problems. The aircraft are well maintained and the people are usually quite friendly and helpful.


RANT_MODE_ON
I've found that the majority of complainers do not realize that most of the problems that people have with any given airline are due to things beyond that airline's control. The FAA will do spotchecks - those slow things down. Lightning stikes happen a lot in Florida - those will delay your flight. Snow storms roll through the Midwest and may cause you to get stranded or delayed in/to/from Chicago. These are the realities of the industry.

If you're one of those people that complain that your $79 seat to Florida was delayed a little bit, please stop and think about these things, and please don't take it out on the ticket agent or gate agent. They are good people that are just trying to do their job. If you do have a complaint, just be civil and you'll find that most people will go out of their way to accommodate you.
RANT_MODE_OFF

And above all, relax - it's your vacation.

 

[kathy387]

Thanks everybody, I'm feeling a little bit better! Now I just need to talk my kids into actually getting on the plane after today's tragedy. Ebockelman...my ticket was a little more than $75 unfortunately! I wouldn't think about taking it out on the airline employees, I've worked in customer services and I know it can sometimes be less than a picnic! Thanks again everyone!