More airline veterans founded ValuJet Airlines back in 1992, with the first commercial flight occuring in late October, 1993, between Atlanta and Tampa.
In 1993, ValuJet was the first airline to launch ticketless travel.
In 1994's spring, the airline went public by listing its stock on the NASDAQ.
In late 1995, ValuJet placed an order for the MD-95 aircraft, being the youngest airline ever to serve as launch customer for an aicraft. In the meantime, McDonnell Douglas has been taken over by Boeing, and the MD-95 was launched as Boeing 717.
At the end of the year, ValuJet was named as the top company in the Georgia 100 published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, with a $67 million net profit on revenues of $367 million.
In 1997, ValuJet, Inc., the holding company for ValuJet Airlines, Inc., acquired Airways Corporation, Inc. and during this process, ValuJet Airlines started to operate under the AirTran Airways name.
In mid-1998, the two companies merged unto the same FAA certificate, and the name of the new company became AirTran Airways, with its main hub remaining in Atlanta, but its was headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
Between 1999 and 2007, AirTran Airways grew to serving more than 56 cities, having over 700 daily flights, 9,000 crew members, and a traffic of nearly 20 million passengers per year.
Since ValuJet merged with the original AirTran Airways, there have been recorded no fatal incidents. Previously, ValuJet had a single such event, in 1996, when a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashed, killing all 110 people on board.
Between 2008 and 2012, AIrtran Airways won the top spot for low cost carriers in the coveted Airline Quality Rating (AQR) study.
In 2009, AirTran Airways installed Wi-Fi on all its planes.
In 2009, Travelzoo Best Provider of Domestic Air Fare Deals was awarded to Airtran Airways.
In September 2010, AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AAI) announced a definitive agreement regarding the acquisition of Airtran Airways by Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV).
In May 2011, AirTran Airways became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines. The two airlines will operate separately until receipt of Single Operating Certificate as they are integrating the processes and employees of the two companies. For now, customers continue to interact exclusively with their ticketed carrier.,
Starting 2012, AirTran aircrafts began to be converted to the Southwest brand.
By the end of 2014, Airtran Airways will be completely integrated into Southwest Airlines.
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