After the crashes of ValuJet Flight 597 and ValuJet Flight 592, ValuJet suffered due to the perception of a lax safety culture, putting its business in jeopardy. On July 10, 1997, ValuJet (ValuJet, Inc.), the parent company of the struggling ValuJet Airlines, entered into an agreement to acquire AirTran Airways and its parent Airways Corporation. AirTran Corporation/Mesaba Holdings was finally renamed to MAIR Holdings, which was finally dissolved in July 2012. After the spun off, AirTran Corporation was renamed to Mesaba Holdings after its subsidiary Mesaba Airlines to distance itself from AirTran Airways. In 1995, AirTran Corporation created a new subsidiary called Airways Corporation and placed AirTran Airways under the new subsidiary AirTran Corporation then spun off the new Airways Corporation as an independent holding company which includes AirTran Airways. The airline moved its headquarters to Orlando and grew to 11 Boeing 737 aircraft, serving 24 cities in the Eastern and Midwestern United States, providing low-fare leisure travel to Orlando. After the purchase, the airline was renamed from Conquest Sun Airlines to AirTran Airways to reflect the name of the holding company. In 1994, the airline was purchased by the AirTran Corporation, which was the holding company of the Minneapolis-based Mesaba Airlines, an operating carrier for Northwest Airlines's Northwest Airlink that had hubs in Minneapolis and Detroit. Victor Rivas, co-founder of Conquest Airlines, was also heavily involved in the establishment of Conquest Sun Airlines. Meanwhile, Conquest Airlines was founded by Rafael Rivas and Victor Rivas in April 1988 in Texas. Another source claimed that Destination Sun was established in 1990 by a bunch of pilots that are presumably ex- Eastern Air Lines pilots since it was claimed later on by the AirTran management that the establishment of AirTran involved former Eastern Air Lines employees. It is claimed that Destination Sun was established in 1991 by former Northeastern International Airways CEO Guy Lindley and that the airline was formerly known as SunExpress and based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The establishment of Destination Sun Airways is unclear. History Establishment & early years An AirTran Boeing 737-200 in the original livery at Orlando International AirportĪirTran Airways was founded in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines and began operations as a start up Boeing 737-200 operator with service to and from Orlando.ĪirTran Airways was established by both the management of Destination Sun Airways and the management of regional airline Conquest Airlines. AirTran's fleet consisted of Boeing 717-200 aircraft, of which it was the world's largest operator, and Boeing 737-700 aircraft. ĪirTran operated nearly 700 daily flights, primarily in the eastern and midwestern United States, with its principal hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ,where it operated nearly 200 daily departures. ValuJet Airlines was renamed "AirTran Airlines" before it was merged into AirTran Airways.ĪirTran Airways and parent AirTran Holdings were acquired by Southwest Airlines on and gradually integrated, with AirTran's final revenue flight operating on December 28, 2014. The ValuJet holding company became known as AirTran Holdings and merged ValuJet Airlines into AirTran Airways. The airline and the Airways Corporation holding company was purchased in 1997 by the ValuJet holding company, which owned the struggling ValuJet Airlines. The airline was later spun off under the new Airways Corporation holding company by the AirTran Corporation. The airline was purchased by the AirTran Corporation in 1994 and was renamed to AirTran Airways. airline that was originally headquartered in Orlando, Florida, and ceased operation following its acquisition by Southwest Airlines.ĪirTran Airways was established in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines by the management of two small airlines: Destination Sun Airways and Conquest Airlines, with Conquest Airlines co-founder Victor Rivas being heavily involved in the establishment of Conquest Sun.
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