Juris George Mikelsons ( lv, Georgs Juris Miķelsons) is a former airline executive and airline pilot in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the founder of

ATA Airlines 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 ...

. He was born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, in 1938 on the eve of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His family fled to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

during the mid-1940s to escape the

Soviet occupation of the Baltic states The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states covers the period from the Soviet–Baltic mutual assistance pacts in 1939, to their invasion and annexation in 1940, to the mass deportations of 1941. In September and October 1939 the Soviet governme ...

Early years

As a child, Mikelsons would peer out of bomb shelters to catch any glimpse he could of the planes being flown in the skies. This was the birth of his passion in life, which was to fly planes. His family moved to

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, during the 1950s where his father was offered a job as a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist for the

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is an American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis on Monument Circl ...

. Mikelsons finally began pursuing his passion when he saw a sign offering flights for under $10. It was then that he flew for the first time. This flight sparked his desire to enter the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

industry. He immediately began flying lessons and became chief

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of the ''Voyager 1000 travel club''.

Founding of ATA Airlines

In 1973, Mikelsons started his own travel club, ''Ambassadair'', taking a loan and mortgaging his home to purchase a

Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was ...

, which he titled "Miss Indy". Ambassadair was a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

-based airline which provided cheap vacation fares. Mikelsons and an employee piloted the plane, loaded the luggage, cleaned the cabin, and served as the tour guide. His hard work and determination allowed him to purchase additional planes for his charter-based airline service. In 1984, after the deregulation of the Airline industry, Mikelsons formed Amtran, Inc., the former parent company of American Trans Air, which later became

, headquartered near

Indianapolis International Airport Indianapolis International Airport is an international airport located seven miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Indianapolis in Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority. The ...

. He also formed ATA Leisure Corp., Amber Travel, ATA Training Corp., ATA Cargo, and ExecuJet. In 1993, ATA made its initial public offering, trading on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

National Market System under the symbol "AMTR". Mikelsons, a noted conservative always notorious for putting his money where his mouth is, purchased a 75% stake in the company. In 1998, Mikelsons retired, giving the reigns of the company to John Tague. Tague began a massive expansion with new aircraft and the establishment of a hub at Chicago's Midway airport. After the

September 11 terrorist 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 ...

in 2001, the slump in airline travel and rising fuel costs severely impacted ATA. Mikelsons came out of retirement to save his troubled airline despite his archaic managerial style. Many of ATA's finest leaders left because of this. ATA emerged from bankruptcy on February 28, 2006 after Mikelson had secured a major

code-share A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

agreement with

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...

. Upon emergence from bankruptcy, Mikelson retired from ATA and its airline holdings, turning the reins of the company to a

MatlinPatterson MatlinPatterson is a distressed securities fund that participates in Distressed securities, distressed and credit opportunities on a global basis. The firm was established in 2002 as a spinout from Credit Suisse First Boston. It is headquartered ...

lead

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

and former Southwest executive John G. Denison. ATA Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection again on April 2, 2008, and announced the discontinuation of all operations "following the loss of a key contract for our military charter business", ATA said on its website.

Personal information

Mikelsons and his wife Muriel live near Indianapolis and have two children (Jay and David Mikelsons). He is the 1996 recipient of the ''

Tony Jannus Award The Tony Jannus Award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in scheduled commercial aviation by airline executives, inventors and manufacturers, and government leaders. The award is conferred annually by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Avia ...

'' for outstanding leadership in the commercial aviation industry. Mikelsons owns and flies a Bell Jet Ranger III helicopter. His wife Muriel is a concert

ist. They are active in a number of area

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

s, including the

Indianapolis Children's Museum The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the world's largest children's museum. It is located at 3000 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana in the United Northwest Area neighborhood of the city. The museum is accredited by the American Al ...

and the

ATA Airlines chronology

References

External links

ATA Airlines official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikelsons, J. George Living people 1938 births Latvian World War II refugees Soviet emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Indianapolis American aviators Businesspeople in aviation American airline chief executives Commercial aviators