November 14, 2011 - AirTran Airways, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines told its Employees on Friday that its operations will cease in June 2012 at the following airports: Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport, Miami International, Central Illinois Regional Airport Bloomington Normal, Ill., Charleston’s Yeager Airport in West Virginia (CRW), and Dulles International.

The Southwest Airlines operations at IAD will continue unaffected.  AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Airlines, is a low-cost airline headquartered in Orlando, Florida. AirTran operates over 650 daily flights (as of November 2011), primarily in the eastern and midwestern United States. 

AirTran's principal hubs are Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where it operates over 195 daily departures (as of November 2011), Orlando International Airport, and General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. AirTran's fleet consists of Boeing 717 aircraft, of which it is the largest operator, and Boeing 737-700 aircraft. On May 2, 2011, Southwest Airlines successfully acquired AirTran Airways for US$1.4 billion.

AirTran Airways says it can no longer support service to these particular markets in light of the realities of the challenging economic environment and sustained high fuel prices. The airline has a keen focus on aligning its service with Customer demand and making capacity available for future opportunities without growing the current fleet. AirTran’s existing flight schedules are currently open through June 2, 2012. Today’s announcement will be incorporated into AirTran’s flight schedule extension to be published on Nov. 13, 2011.  

AirTran’s 19 Employees currently serve BMI with three daily nonstop flights and its 17 IAD Employees support three daily departures. Its CRW (three weekly departures), MIA (one daily nonstop), and TYS (one daily nonstop flight) service are all supported by AirTran’s contracted Vendor Partners.  AirTran Employees at these locations will have the opportunity to move elsewhere within AirTran, after operations cease next year.  

AirTran Airways will continue to operate at Miami, Knoxville, Dulles, Bloomington/Normal, and Charleston airports until June 3, 2012. Ticketed passengers, passengers holding reservations, or passengers desiring to make reservations for flights to or from these airports have no need to alter their travel plans prior to June 3, 2012.