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http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/221662-8245-105.html
Bidder has big plans for ATA subsidiary
Investor that wants to buy Chicago Express would expand daily flights from Indy to 64.
By Ted Evanoff
[email protected]
February 12, 2005
Boston investor Jack E. Robinson said Friday that Chicago Express would become a low-fare carrier offering the most daily flights from Indianapolis if he succeeds in his effort to buy the bankrupt 600-employee carrier for $25,000.
Robinson said he would move the headquarters from Chicago to Indiana, possibly Gary; raise employment to 1,500; buy 30 more turboprop airplanes; and launch 64 daily flights from Indianapolis, including nonstop service to Toronto, Ontario.
Offering in-state flights for as little as $30 one-way from Indianapolis to Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary and South Bend could attract 200,000 passengers a year, he said, and make Indianapolis a hub for Chicago Express.
"You're talking about getting people out of their cars and getting them into airplanes, and that's never been done before in Indiana," Robinson said.
A former Eastern Airlines executive, Robinson outlined his plans Friday for putting in dual hubs at Chicago Midway and Indianapolis International Airport, offering 300 daily flights in total to 37 cities and coordinating schedules with an undisclosed major carrier.
Robinson described the plans in an interview with The Indianapolis Star after he met with airport managers from Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, South Bend, Indianapolis and Lexington, Ky., in a meeting closed to the public.
The meeting in the Indianapolis terminal's Board Room, organized by airport officials, is a sign that Robinson appears closer to getting his offer considered by ATA Holdings Corp.
Indianapolis-based ATA acquired Chicago Express in 1999 for $1.9 million but intends to shut it down by March 28 to cut costs while ATA reorganizes in bankruptcy.
Robinson's original $37,700 bid for the feeder line was rebuffed in a Dec. 10 bankruptcy auction, but he continued to urge ATA to sell him the line. The $37,700 figure is his estimate of legal fees for ATA to transfer ownership.
Recently, ATA relented and agreed to put Chicago Express on the market. Robinson's NatTel LLC of Stamford, Conn., came back with a $25,000 offer and proposed terms that include not pressing ATA Airlines for $14 million owed Chicago Express.
On Monday, ATA attorneys will ask a federal bankruptcy judge to approve an investment banker to market the carrier. Georgia entrepreneur Robert Riddell also has said he would place an offer to buy Chicago Express.
Separately, NatTel objected Friday in bankruptcy court to ATA's proposed investment banker, Compass Advisers LLP of New York. Noting Compass already works for ATA's unsecured creditors' committee, NatTel filed papers that said an adviser unconnected to the creditors should be hired.
Robinson, a Harvard MBA, hasn't had experience in the airline business since Eastern folded in bankruptcy in 1991. After that, he and partners formed Cellular One Caribbean, he said, to market cell phone services from its headquarters on St. Martin. After the telephone communications business was sold, the proceeds were invested by his firm NatTel, Robinson said.
Airport officials in Indiana's largest cities want Chicago Express to stay in business because it operates the only in-state daily flights.
After meeting Robinson, Patrick Dooley, Indianapolis airport director, said the investor appears capable.
"We really have to have our folks crunch the numbers," Dooley said. "But the thing we know is, intrastate service can work because it's working for ATA."
The bankrupt carrier did not disclose passenger boardings on Chicago Express as part of its January traffic report.
However, Bob Working, Evansville Regional Airport manager, said he was enthused about early January travel.
Working noted 929 passengers boarded and got off Chicago Express planes at Evansville last month during the first two weeks of service, even with little advance publicity.
"I could certainly believe they are very marketable," Working said. "Chicago Express has a very good operation."
Call Star reporter Ted Evanoff at (317) 444-6019.
Bidder has big plans for ATA subsidiary
Investor that wants to buy Chicago Express would expand daily flights from Indy to 64.
By Ted Evanoff
[email protected]
February 12, 2005
Boston investor Jack E. Robinson said Friday that Chicago Express would become a low-fare carrier offering the most daily flights from Indianapolis if he succeeds in his effort to buy the bankrupt 600-employee carrier for $25,000.
Robinson said he would move the headquarters from Chicago to Indiana, possibly Gary; raise employment to 1,500; buy 30 more turboprop airplanes; and launch 64 daily flights from Indianapolis, including nonstop service to Toronto, Ontario.
Offering in-state flights for as little as $30 one-way from Indianapolis to Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary and South Bend could attract 200,000 passengers a year, he said, and make Indianapolis a hub for Chicago Express.
"You're talking about getting people out of their cars and getting them into airplanes, and that's never been done before in Indiana," Robinson said.
A former Eastern Airlines executive, Robinson outlined his plans Friday for putting in dual hubs at Chicago Midway and Indianapolis International Airport, offering 300 daily flights in total to 37 cities and coordinating schedules with an undisclosed major carrier.
Robinson described the plans in an interview with The Indianapolis Star after he met with airport managers from Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, South Bend, Indianapolis and Lexington, Ky., in a meeting closed to the public.
The meeting in the Indianapolis terminal's Board Room, organized by airport officials, is a sign that Robinson appears closer to getting his offer considered by ATA Holdings Corp.
Indianapolis-based ATA acquired Chicago Express in 1999 for $1.9 million but intends to shut it down by March 28 to cut costs while ATA reorganizes in bankruptcy.
Robinson's original $37,700 bid for the feeder line was rebuffed in a Dec. 10 bankruptcy auction, but he continued to urge ATA to sell him the line. The $37,700 figure is his estimate of legal fees for ATA to transfer ownership.
Recently, ATA relented and agreed to put Chicago Express on the market. Robinson's NatTel LLC of Stamford, Conn., came back with a $25,000 offer and proposed terms that include not pressing ATA Airlines for $14 million owed Chicago Express.
On Monday, ATA attorneys will ask a federal bankruptcy judge to approve an investment banker to market the carrier. Georgia entrepreneur Robert Riddell also has said he would place an offer to buy Chicago Express.
Separately, NatTel objected Friday in bankruptcy court to ATA's proposed investment banker, Compass Advisers LLP of New York. Noting Compass already works for ATA's unsecured creditors' committee, NatTel filed papers that said an adviser unconnected to the creditors should be hired.
Robinson, a Harvard MBA, hasn't had experience in the airline business since Eastern folded in bankruptcy in 1991. After that, he and partners formed Cellular One Caribbean, he said, to market cell phone services from its headquarters on St. Martin. After the telephone communications business was sold, the proceeds were invested by his firm NatTel, Robinson said.
Airport officials in Indiana's largest cities want Chicago Express to stay in business because it operates the only in-state daily flights.
After meeting Robinson, Patrick Dooley, Indianapolis airport director, said the investor appears capable.
"We really have to have our folks crunch the numbers," Dooley said. "But the thing we know is, intrastate service can work because it's working for ATA."
The bankrupt carrier did not disclose passenger boardings on Chicago Express as part of its January traffic report.
However, Bob Working, Evansville Regional Airport manager, said he was enthused about early January travel.
Working noted 929 passengers boarded and got off Chicago Express planes at Evansville last month during the first two weeks of service, even with little advance publicity.
"I could certainly believe they are very marketable," Working said. "Chicago Express has a very good operation."
Call Star reporter Ted Evanoff at (317) 444-6019.
