The Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB) is an office of

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

created to assist US

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

s in the wake of the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. The Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, signed into law September 22, 2001, authorizes the board to issue up to $10 billion in federal loan guarantees to air carriers for which credit is not otherwise available and where "such agreement is a necessary part of maintaining a safe, efficient and viable commercial aviation system in the United States."

Loan guarantees

Between 2001 and 2003, the ATSB approved applications for loan guarantees from seven carriers:

America West Airlines America West Airlines was a major American airline, founded in 1981, with service commencing in 1983, and having reached US$1 billion in annual revenue in 1989, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. At the time of its acquisition of US Airways, Americ ...

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called ...

American Trans Air ATA Airlines, Inc. – formerly known as American Trans Air and commonly referred to as ATA – was a United States low-cost scheduled service and charter airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana. ATA operated scheduled passenger flights ...

Aloha Airlines Aloha Airlines was an American airline headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, operating from a hub at Honolulu International Airport (now Daniel K. Inouye International Airport). Operations began on July 26, 1946, and ceased operations on March 31 ...

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

Evergreen International Airlines Evergreen International Airlines was a charter and cargo airline based in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. Wholly owned by Evergreen International Aviation, it had longstanding ties to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It operated co ...

, and

World Airways World Airways, Inc. was a United States airline headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia in Greater Atlanta. The company operated mostly non-scheduled services but did fly scheduled passenger services as well, notably with McDonnell Douglas DC ...

. These carriers accepted loan guarantees worth $1.179 billion. Ultimately, the government benefited from the program, drawing $300 million in profit. https://public.alpa.org/portals/alpa/magazine/2006/May2006_painfullesson_p18.pdf The ATSB denied applications from nine carriers: Ozark Airlines dba

Great Plains Airlines Great Plains Airlines was a regional airline headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. History The airline was founded by Jack Knight and Jim Swartz to give Oklahoma City and Tulsa travelers affordable quality non-stop service to a number of destinati ...

, MEDjet International,

Corporate Airlines RegionsAir was a 14 CFR Part 121 regional airline based out of the Smyrna Airport (Tennessee), Smyrna Airport in Smyrna, Tennessee, United States, USA. The hub airports for RegionsAir were Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) and Clevelan ...

Gemini Air Cargo Gemini Air Cargo was an American ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, & Insurance) cargo airline headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, United States. It operated worldwide cargo schedules and charters on a wet-lease basis. Its main bases were Miami ...

Frontier Flying Service Frontier Flying Service (d/b/a Ravn Connect) was an American airline headquartered in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. It operated an extensive network of year-round scheduled commuter services and postal services to Alaska bush communities, p ...

Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines Inc. (stylized as spirit) is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. carrier headquartered in Miramar, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Latin Ameri ...

, National Airlines, and both initial and revised applications from

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

and

Vanguard Airlines Vanguard Airlines was an American airline based in Kansas City, Missouri, where it operated a hub from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. For a time, Vanguard also had significant operations at Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago, Ill ...

ATSB Results

Successes

*America West Airlines - Survives, repays ATSB loans with interest. America West management team takes over US Air during US Air's bankruptcy becoming US Airways, stock symbol LLC. Goes on to merge with American Airlines during American Airlines bankruptcy again with America West CEO W. Douglass Parker and his former America West Airlines team at the helm of the new American Airlines.

Still in Business and holding on in life support

*Frontier Airlines - reorganizes after a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and is acquired by

Republic Airways Holdings Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. is an American airline holding corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that owns Republic Airways, an American regional airline operating in the United States, and LIFT Academy, the only flight training acade ...

and then the private investment group Indigo Partners.

Casualties

*Aloha Airlines - shut down in a chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. *American Trans Air - acquired by the private equity firm MatlinPatterson's Global Aero Logistics and shut down in chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. *Evergreen International Airlines *World Airways - acquired by the same group as ATA and also shut down by the same private equity firm

References

External links

*U.S. Treasury - Air Transportation Stabilization Board
GAO: State Of the U.S. Commercial Airline Industry and Possible Issues for Congressional Consideration
United States Department of the Treasury Aviation in the United States 2001 establishments in the United States Aftermath of the September 11 attacks {{US-gov-stub