Airlines of YesterYear: ValuJet and AirTran

For those new to my site, the "Airlines of YesterYear" series is an occasional series where I highlight and honor some of the forgotten or lesser-known airlines that have "flown off into the sunset," so to speak.  Sadly, airlines have been in the news a lot lately for very unfortunate reasons, but in general, most of the flying public only thinks about an airline as a way to get from A to B or which one has the cheapest ticket.  However, for folks who work in the industry, like myself, it's more than just a job.  It's a lifestyle we dedicate ourselves to, and many of us like to honor its rich (and, at times, quite fascinating) past.  

This series stems from an article I read as a teenager in Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine, "Update on the Upstarts." The article covered nine "feisty, in-your-face" airlines that were part of the new airline group called "upstarts " in the 1990s.  After Ronald Reagan deregulated the airline industry, countless new airlines were born.  Hardly any of them made it past a year of operation, and almost all of them are long-forgotten by the flying public.  

By covering the airlines mentioned in this article, I hope to provide my own "update on the upstarts," along with some other airlines not mentioned by Frommer.  You can head to the Collections Tab (after reading this, of course) and read about the several other airlines I've written about.  I've covered airlines from Business Express to AccessAir and, most recently, Trump Shuttle.  Today, we will look at an upstart that lasted for more than twenty years in one form or another:  AirTran.

Before discussing AirTran, we must talk about how it all began as an airline that developed an infamous name for itself:  ValuJet.

I certainly remember ValuJet from the news cycles of the 1990s, but I didn't know until many years later, when I started flying, that it had turned itself into AirTran.  Personally, I have great experiences flying on AirTran.  When I graduated high school, my Uncle took me on a trip to Atlanta to explore the city.  Mostly, it was just to fly me somewhere because he knew I was interested in planes, airlines, and flying, and AirTran provided cheap, nonstop tickets to Atlanta.  We had a great time exploring the city, but to me, as was his plan all along, the plane rides were the best experiences.  

We even did a power back from the gate in Atlanta, which was pretty darn cool.  In most cases, especially today, when the aircraft leaves the gate, it's "pushed back" by a ground crew and a tractor-like vehicle called a tug.  Back in "the day," aircraft occasionally would use reverse thrust to "power-back" from the gate, but this was (and is) a dangerous and loud procedure.  Not to mention an obnoxiously fun waste of fuel.  So, I was excited when we did it in Atlanta for our return flight to Newark.  

Years later, I would *allegedly* parallel park several turboprop aircraft using only the engines at the maintenance hangar in Albany (under a mechanic's supervision, of course), but that's a story for another day.

Back to AirTran: The flights were fine.  There was minimal service, but I remember enjoying the flight.  They were on time, the crew was friendly, and the tickets were cheap.  Years later, I bought my brother tickets on AirTran for his honeymoon, and he reported a pleasant experience as well.

I always thought their logo and color palette were aesthetically pleasing.  It was different enough that it stood out but not so different that it was gaudy.  

Over the years of working for the airlines, I've met countless people who worked for AirTran.  They all had the same thing to say about it.  It wasn't the best working conditions they had.  The days were long, and the pay was low, but it was a "fun" place to work with great employees.  Many airlines today, not named Delta or United, are like that, where everyone has a feeling of being underpaid and undervalued, but everyone feels stuck "in it" together, and camaraderie and a belief in the business itself make up a lot of the difference.   

But before there was AirTran, there was ValuJet.  

ValuJet was created in 1992 and began service on October 26, 1993.  Initially, the airline owned only one McDonnell Douglas DC-9, previously owned by Delta Air Lines.  The first flight, Flight 901, was between Atlanta and Tampa Bay.  The airline soon began service from Atlanta to Orlando and Jacksonville.   

ValuJet was created by industry veterans, including its co-founder and Chairman, Robert Priddy.  Priddy had started a string of successful, smaller regional airlines, such as Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), Air Midwest, and Florida Gulf Airlines.  ASA eventually became one of the largest Delta Connection carriers before being sold to ExpressJet and Skywest Airlines in the early 2010s.  Air Midwest and Florida Gulf Airlines were purchased and merged into Mesa Airlines, a large feeder airline for American Airlines.

Other ValuJet board members, Maury Gallagher and Tim Flynn, developed and ran WestAir, another airline that was eventually sold and merged into Mesa Airlines.

Lewis Jordan, the former Continental Airlines and Flying Tigers President joined Valujet a short time later.  Upon signing on to ValuJet, he was named President of the company.

After adding 15 aircraft and a year of tremendous growth, the airline went public in June.  It became the fastest airline to make a profit in American aviation history, earning over $21 million in 1994 alone, only its second year in operation.

"Critter"

ValuJet's branding made "Critter," its smiling cartoon airplane logo, famous.  Critter appeared in nearly every aspect of ValuJet's operations, including the aircraft, ticket counters, crew uniforms, advertisements, and souvenir merchandise.

"Critter" was also ValuJet's air traffic control call sign, identifying the airline on the radio.

All of ValuJet's planes were painted white with blue and yellow trim, with a smiling "Critter" on both sides of the aircraft.

After establishing its central operation hub in Atlanta, the airline opened four "focus cities" in Orlando, Philadelphia, Boston, and Miami.  

On June 8, 1995, Flight 597 aborted takeoff in Atlanta.  Bound for Miami, the flight suffered a catastrophic engine failure that was later found to be caused by a manufacturing defect of an engine compressor blade.  Shrapnel from the right engine penetrated the cabin of the aircraft, along with the right engine fuel line, causing a cabin fire.  The Captain ordered an evacuation of the plane on the runway.  

The resulting fire destroyed the aircraft, and one fight attendant received severe burns and wounds from shrapnel.  Of the 57 passengers, five suffered minor injuries related to the evacuation.  

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the engine failure was caused by a detectable crack in a compressor blade, on which a maintenance contractor had failed to perform a proper required inspection, along with poor record keeping.

The incident resulted in a black eye on ValuJet's maintenance practices that, sadly, wouldn't be their last.  

In October 1995, ValuJet placed an order with McDonnell Douglas for 50 new MD-95 jets, with an option for 50 more.  Following Boeing's acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, the MD-95 would later be known as the Boeing 717.  

Before those new aircraft would arrive, ValuJet kept its costs down by continuing to acquire used aircraft from around the world.  During this period of growth, ValuJet had among the oldest fleets in the United States, with the average aircraft age being 26 years old.

In November 1995, ValuJet sued Delta and TWA over landing slots at La Guardia Airport in New York.  ValuJet alleged that TWA broke an agreement to lease ten LaGuardia landing slots and leased them to Delta Air Lines instead.  

According to a New York Times article from March 20, 1996, ValuJet obtained landing slots from Continental Airlines and was still trying to win the original ten from TWA in court at the time of the article.  Unfortunately, a few months later, a major accident ended any attempt by ValuJet to expand.  

The New York Times article offered great insight into ValuJet's operations in early 1996.  At the time of the article, ValuJet had expanded to 45 aircraft and was the first airline to offer completely ticketless travel.  This eliminated the need for a large accounting department to sort and count tickets.  Up until then, airlines would issue tickets in triplicate, keeping copies for their records.  ValuJet eliminated that by going electronic.

ValuJet's fares were all non-refundable, and it offered only one class of service and did not provide any meal service.  As a result, Valujet needed to fill less than 50% of all seats on its aircraft to break even with ticket sales.  In the mid-90s, the more established carriers needed to fill approximately 70% of seats to break even.  This 20% advantage allowed ValuJet to rapidly make profits compared to the "legacy" carriers.

In 1995, on average, ValuJet reported the flights were 69% full.  

ValuJet usually offered less frequent flights, but its low fares would attract passengers who might otherwise not fly at all, leaving more business travelers (the ones who often buy higher priced last-minute tickets) to the established airlines like American and Delta.  

Delta would usually match, or nearly match, ValuJet's ticket prices on a limited number of seats on competing flights.  When ValuJet began service between Atlanta and La Guardia, its introductory fare was $89 each way, with a last-minute walk-up fare of $149, compared to Delta's last-minute fare of $424.  

Like other low-cost airlines, ValuJet did not own any maintenance facilities or have an extensive spare parts inventory.  Moreover, many measures the airline took to hold down fares were very aggressive, definitely dangerous, and perhaps even borderline illegal.  

ValuJet required pilots to pay for their own training and only paid them once their assigned flights were completed, creating an atmosphere of "pilot-pushing," demanding pilots complete assignments regardless of weather or maintenance status.  Flight attendants only received the minimum FAA-required training before being released to fly.  

ValuJet also outsourced most of the functions that many airlines handle themselves.  For instance, it subcontracted maintenance to several different companies, which frequently subcontracted the work to other companies.  When mechanics caused flight delays, ValuJet reportedly cut the pay or fined the mechanic or subcontractor responsible for that aircraft.

Following the rejected takeoff due to engine issues in June of 1995, ValuJet quickly developed a reputation for having safety issues.  In late 1995, the United States Department of Defense rejected the airline's bid to fly military personnel, citing serious deficiencies in ValuJet's quality assurance procedures, safety protocols, and maintenance records.  In February 1996, the FAA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., received a memo from the Atlanta field office stating that "consideration should be given to an immediate FAR 121 re-certification of this airline."   

In other words, the local FAA officials in Atlanta wanted ValuJet grounded by the national office. 

Over the years, ValuJet airplanes made 129 emergency landings: fifteen in 1994, 57 in 1995, and 57 from January through May 1996.  Following the letter from Atlanta field officials, the FAA ordered ValuJet to seek approval before adding any new routes or aircraft to its network, something not seen in aviation since the deregulation of airlines in 1979.  

According to NTSB Chairman Jim Hall, the attempt to remove ValuJet's certification was lost in a federal "maze at the FAA " filled with red tape.   

Sadly, this all came to a head on May 11, 1996.  ValuJet had a high-profile accident when Flight 592 crashed into the Florida Everglades.  The DC-9, which was flying from Miami to Atlanta, suffered an onboard fire triggered by expired (but still working) chemical oxygen generators illegally stowed in the cargo hold without their required safety caps.  

All 110 people on board died.

ValuJet's maintenance subcontractor, SabreTech, placed the chemical generators on the plane before departure.  The post-crash investigation revealed numerous systemic flaws and ultimately faulted Sabretech for improperly storing the generators and for ValuJet's "lack of supervision."

After the crash, the public and the government scrutinized many of ValuJet's other cost-cutting practices.  Upon inspection, one of ValuJet's planes flew 140 times despite a leaky hydraulic system, and another flew 31 times with malfunctioning weather radar.  Yet another was found allowed to fly despite engine rust, which caught fire a few months later and was completely destroyed.

At the time of the crash, the FAA was in the final stages of its three-month review of the company's operations.  The Transportation Department, unbelievably, wanted to give ValuJet a clean bill of health; however, when the DOT Inspector General, Mary Schiavo, strongly objected, the FAA grounded ValuJet on June 11, 1996, one month after the fatal crash in Florida.

The airline was not allowed to fly until months later, on September 26, with a significantly reduced fleet of 15 aircraft (down from 52 before the accident.)  

On November 4, 1996, ValuJet announced Joseph Corr, former Continental Airlines CEO, would take over as CEO and President of the company.  Along with that announcement came the admission the company was in serious financial trouble.  Its highest-paying customers never returned, and the airline suffered major economic losses due to the negative publicity surrounding Flight 592 and the much smaller route structure.  In the four months following the crash, the airline had lost $55 million, and the financial losses continued to pile up.

On July 11, 1997, ValuJet announced it was merging with a small company named Airways Corporation, the parent company of AirTran Airways.  The merger between Airways Corporation and ValuJet, Inc. was completed on November 17, 1997.  The merged company retained ValuJet's pre-1997 stock price history but changed its name to AirTran Holdings and moved its headquarters from Atlanta to Orlando.  

After the parent companies merger, ValuJet Airlines was renamed AirTran Airlines as quickly as possible, as the "new" company wanted to distance itself from the ValuJet brand.  In 1998, all fleet and operations were transferred to the AirTran Airways operating certificate, and the original ValuJet certificate was surrendered to the FAA.  

Before its purchase by ValuJet, AirTran began its life in 1993.  It was headquartered at Orlando International Airport under the name Conquest Sun Airlines and used Boeing 737-200 aircraft.  Conquest Sun was a new, low-fare jet airline started by the owners of Conquest Airlines and Destination Sun Airways.  

Little is available on the internet about Destination Sun Airways, but I managed to find one article that mentioned former Northeastern International Airways CEO Guy Lindley, along with several former Eastern Airlines pilots, created an airline called SunExpress out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  SunExpress would eventually be taken over by the Rivas brothers of Conquest Airlines.

Conquest Airlines began in 1988 as a small regional airline operating turboprop aircraft out of Texas, owned by Rafael and Victor Rivas.  The Rivas brothers became heavily involved in establishing their second airline, Conquest Sun Airlines, and this new airline operated briefly from June 1993 to September 1994.  

It was then purchased by AirTran Corporation, the holding company of Minneapolis-based Mesaba Airlines.  Mesaba, the primary carrier for Northwest Airlines' "Northwest Airlink," had hubs in Minneapolis and Detroit, far from AirTran's Florida-based operation.

AirTran Corporation changed Conquest Sun Airlines' name to AirTran Airways to reflect the name of the parent holding company.  The airline grew to 11 Boeing 737 aircraft and served 24 cities in the Eastern and Midwestern United States, providing low-fare travel to families headed to Orlando.

The original AirTran Airways

In 1995, AirTran Corporation created a new subsidiary called Airways Corporation and placed AirTran Airways under the new company.  This new subsidiary was then spun off as an independent holding company.  AirTran Corporation was renamed Mesaba Holdings after its first airline, Mesaba Airlines, to distance itself from the AirTran name.  

Mesaba Holdings was eventually renamed MAIR Holdings, which was dissolved in July 2012 when Mesaba Airlines was merged with Pinnacle Airlines and Colgan Air to form Endeavor Airlines.

That was a fun merger.  I lost my Captain's seat, several years of seniority, and tens of thousands of dollars in wages due to the new combined airline's sham bankruptcy, but I'm not mad about it.

On July 10th, 1997, ValuJet, Inc., the struggling airline's parent company, agreed to purchase the spun-off AirTran Airways and its parent company, Airways Corporation.  After ValuJet's high-profile safety incidents, a new company name was essential to regaining passenger traffic.  

When the sale was finalized on November 17, 1997, AirTran Airways and Airways Corporation became subsidiaries of ValuJet Inc.  The holding company's name was immediately changed to AirTran Holdings.  AirTran Holdings now owned two airlines: AirTran Airways and AirTran Airlines (formerly ValuJet).  

The new name was essential to survival, so while ValuJet may have technically been the purchasing entity, the AirTran name was adopted in a "reverse takeover," and the ValuJet name ceased to exist.  The new company hardly mentioned its past ever again. 

It would become public knowledge decades later that, after the demise of AirTran, a large cache of ValuJet memorabilia, including signage, collector's items, and print and television ads, were kept in an Atlanta warehouse.  I wonder if they'll ever end up on eBay?  

On January 28, 1998, the new AirTran Holdings moved its headquarters into the old AirTran facility in Orlando.  However, the airline decided to keep the old ValuJet Atlanta hub as the main point of operation for the combined AirTran Airways/Airlines.  

By April 1998, AirTran Holdings had received the FAA's "okay " to transfer all of AirTran Airlines' (the old ValuJet) fleet and operations to the AirTran Airways certificate.  They then gave up the AirTran Airlines Operating Certificate, ending the ValuJet legacy.

At the time of the merger, when it became clear that ValuJet management would continue running the operation, AirTran received several criticisms from the media.  Time Magazine wrote, "In a corporate disappearing act, the troubled airline bought a smaller rival and adopted its name, becoming AirTran Airways."  The Los Angeles Times added, "After more than a year of reminding too many people of a disaster rather than low fares, ValuJet on Thursday said it would take a new name.  ValuJet is buying a much smaller airline, AirTran Airways, from Airways Corp. for $66.3 million worth of stock and just taking its name."

 

New CEO Joe Leonard

In January 1999, a new management team took over the company.  Two veterans took the helm when Joe Leonard of Eastern Air Lines became the new Chief Executive (CEO) and Robert Fornaro of US Airways became the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).  The two recruited a new senior leadership team with the immediate goal of stabilizing the balance sheet and preparing to refinance the company's debt due in early 2000.  They were also tasked to increase and establish revenue streams and prepare for delivery of the new Boeing 717 aircraft.  

AirTran was the launch customer of the Boeing 717 and would eventually be the largest operator of the aircraft type in the world.  

  

An AirTran Boeing 717-200

Leonard was also publicly determined to turn around the carrier's financial situation and establish a new culture of trust among employees and customers in the airline's new "branding."

For 1999, AirTran reported an operating profit of $30 million, signaling a significant turnaround from the new management team.  

On August 15, 2001, the company's stock ticker changed to AAI, reflecting the new airline's name.

On September 26, 2002, AirTran announced it would create its regional brand, AirTran JetConnect, based in Atlanta.  Regional carrier Air Wisconsin provided the JetConnect service, operating ten Bombardier CRJ200 jets painted in full JetConnect livery.  

AirTran JetConnect, operated by Air Wisconsin

Service was provided on short-haul markets where the Boeing 717 was considered too large to economically operate based on passenger demand.  JetConnect flights began on November 15, 2002, to Greensboro, Pensacola, and Savannah.  Service would eventually expand to 18 cities across the eastern United States.

On March 5, 2004, AirTran announced it would end the JetConnect service after analysis determined it could operate its Boeing 717 aircraft more efficiently than the subcontracted regional jets.  During the phasing-out process, Air Wisconsin moved all its regional jets to the carrier's new contract with US Airways as US Airways Express.  

AirTran would try regional service again briefly in December 2009 from its new (at the time) hub in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The flights would again be operated using Bombardier CRJ aircraft, but this time by SkyWest Airlines in a generic SkyWest livery.  

This operation would end in September 2011.

In July 2003, AirTran placed an order with Boeing for up to 110 brand-new Boeing 737-700 aircraft.

Following the order, AirTran began expanding its route structure.  Service was added to Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport, as well as an expansion to several cities on the West Coast, including San Francisco.  

Ryan Intl. Airlines operating on behalf of AirTran

To begin the long-range flights to the West Coast from Atlanta before the new Boeing 737s arrived in mid-2003, AirTran signed a contract with charter company Ryan International Airlines to operate Airbus A320 aircraft on its behalf.  As the Boeing 737s began arriving in AirTran's fleet, Ryan's A320 operation was phased out.  Ryan's last flight for AirTran was at the end of 2004.  

As AirTran continued to grow, customers nationwide began to confuse the airline known as American Trans Air (ATA) with AirTran due to their similar-sounding names.  Informally known as "ATA" since its creation in 1973, the airline officially changed its name to ATA Airlines to end all confusion and get a fresh start, as it was struggling financially.

On October 26, 2004, ATA Holdings and its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and AirTran Airways agreed to pay $90 million for ATA's 14 gates at Chicago-Midway.  Southwest Airlines placed a higher bid, and the deal between AirTran and ATA ended.  

On an interesting note, ATA Airlines continued until April 2, 2008, when they again declared bankruptcy and ceased operation.  This specific shutdown is interesting because the significant increase in the price of jet fuel in 2008 saw four airlines shut down within one week.  Aloha Airlines closed on March 30, Minnesota-based charter airline Champion Air shut down on March 31, ATA on the 2nd, and Skybus Airlines closed its doors on April 5th.  

AirTran was again outbid for ATA's remaining assets by Southwest Airlines in November 2008.  Southwest and AirTran's fate would collide again in a few years. 

On January 5th, 2004, the last Douglass DC-9 retired from the fleet, leaving the company with 70 Boeing 717-200s.  Six months later, the first Boeing 737 would enter AirTran's fleet in June.  From a company that once had an average fleet age of nearly 30 years old, the average age of the company's planes had come down to 5 years old.

An AirTran television commercial featuring the young age of their fleet

On May 23, 2006, AirTran, in a joint ceremony with Midwest Airlines and Boeing, would celebrate the delivery of the last two Boeing 717s ever made.  Midwest accepted one, and AirTran officially received the last.  Boeing had closed the 717 production line due to poor sales, thus ending the illustrious legacy of the workhorse aircraft known over the years as the Douglass DC-9, McDonnell Douglass MD-80/90, and Boeing 717.  

Months later, in December, AirTran publicly announced that it had tried to acquire Midwest Airlines and its regional subsidiary, Skyway, twice in 2006.  It again attempted to purchase the airline by sweetening its offer in January 2007 to a stock transaction valued at $290 million.  AirTran presented this new offer directly to shareholders, bypassing the board of directors, with an offer expiring on April 11, 2007.  AirTran raised its bid on April 2nd to $15 a share, or roughly $345 million, in what CEO Joe Leonard called his company's "final bid."

On August 16th, Midwest's shareholders voted to officially reject AirTran's offer and accept a separate offer from TPG Capital, an investment firm working in partnership with Northwest Airlines.

A few weeks after the failed Midwest purchase, Joe Leonard announced his retirement.  In November, Robert Fornaro took over as CEO and President.  Leonard would remain Chairman of the Board until his full retirement in June 2008, when Fornaro also assumed the title of Chairman.

In 2009, AirTran became the first major airline to have its entire fleet of aircraft outfitted with Inflight Internet provided by GoGo Internet.  Other airlines had begun adding internet to its fleet already, but AirTran was the first to be able to advertise that it was "fleet-wide."

 

Over the years, several of AirTran's aircraft featured special liveries for sports teams and companies.  This included Lil' Debbie, the Indianapolis Colts, the Orlando Magic, and the Baltimore Ravens.

In July 2010, AirTran opened its new System Operations Control Center at Orlando International Airport.  This 16,000-square-foot facility, which cost $6.9 million, was a state-of-the-art 24-hour command center.  During this expansion, AirTran added more than 1,000 employees in Orlando, including a new maintenance facility and expanded passenger operations at the airport.  

To coincide with this expansion, a crew base of over 100 pilots and 300 flight attendants was opened in Orlando.

By the time of the Orlando expansion, the airline had grown to over 700 daily flights and 8,500 employees.  They provided cities to 70 cities coast-to-coast, the Caribbean, and Mexico.  Airtran boasted it served nearly 25 million passengers per year.

Then, amid this new Florida expansion, Southwest Airlines announced that on September 27, 2010, they planned to acquire AirTran Airways for $1.4 billion.  

This news was somewhat shocking to the industry.  It would give Southwest, traditionally a smaller, secondary market airline, a foothold in several of AirTran's hubs and larger cities.  Southwest specifically cited Atlanta, the largest US city without Southwest service, and AirTran's hubs in Milwaukee, Baltimore, and Orlando, which were all already Southwest hubs.  

Southwest had immediately rid itself of its biggest competitor in many markets.  They would also gain entrance into New York's LaGuardia Airport and Boston's Logan Airport, as well as several international markets, such as Cancun, Montego Bay, and Aruba.  

An AirTran Boeing 737-700

It was decided that the AirTran Boeing 737-700s fleet would be integrated into Southwest Airlines branding, but the Boeing 717 fleet must go.  The 717s were eventually leased to Delta Air Lines.  

Southwest, for simplicity's sake, had famously (and still of this writing in 2025) only ever operated one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737.   

The acquisition was initially expected to be completed and finalized within two years, with the two carriers operating as separate entities in the meantime.  The deal was finalized on May 2, 2011, and a single operating certificate for the combined carrier was achieved on March 1, 2012.  

Southwest estimated the transaction's value to be $3.2 billion and the one-time integration cost to be $500 million.  

Trouble arose when Southwest and AirTran pilot groups were merging.  After rejecting integration offers from Southwest's pilot union, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) of AirTran rejected their final offer.  Southwest formed Guadeloupe Holdings to act as a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines.  Guadeloupe became the holding company for AirTran's operations and assets and a legal "workaround" for Southwest's pilot group to avoid certain clauses in AirTran's pilot labor contract.  Eventually, the two were "merged" in a much less-than-equal way.

The integration was completed on December 28, 2014, when an AirTran Boeing 717-200, AirTran Airways Flight # 1, departed Atlanta for Tampa Bay for the final time.  The route and flight number were chosen to honor ValuJet's first flight, which occurred just over twenty years earlier.  

When the airplane touched down at Tampa and parked at the gate, AirTran Airways ceased to exist. 

As we conclude our examination of ValuJet and AirTran, I am reminded of the saying, "Every end is just a new beginning."  

During its short history, ValuJet provided low-cost airfares to the traveling public.  However, it provided a terrible example of how to run a low-cost airline.  Cost-cutting measures, especially in the maintenance department, ultimately caused its demise.  AirTran had years of success after the merger, leading up to its final sale to Southwest Airlines.  

AirTran's final flight into Tampa left behind a legacy of two airlines: one revered and the other reviled.