AirTran Airways came in third place, followed by Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines.
The other two airline companies earning a red light this year are AirTran and ExpressJet.
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During spring 2010, Southwest and AirTran began informal merger discussions between their respective chief executive officers.
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Now AirTran is pushing beyond its traditional turf, recently opening routes to Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
There's also a buddy system that's been started, plus an effort to find AirTran workers new jobs.
Southwest completed the acquisition of AirTran on May 2, adding both revenues and costs to its mix.
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In 1997, ValuJet changed its name to AirTran after a 1996 crash in the Everglades killed 110 people.
ValuJet Airlines became AirTran Airways after its name was sullied by a 1996 crash that killed 110 people.
Airtran is introducing a service via GoGo Infight Internet in which flyers get to access Facebook, for free.
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Excluding AirTran Airways, which Southwest acquired in May, Southwest would have been the industry's worst at baggage handling.
So, in this very crude calculation, AirTran pays for the acquisition price in 4.5 years, excluding financing costs.
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Participating airlines include Airtran, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways.
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With 20% of traffic already, the discounters like Southwest, JetBlue and AirTran may be the biggest winners of all.
Southwest's AirTran Airways unit had seats available for 95% of queries, while JetBlue offered seats 88.6% of the time.
"Looking at industry revenue, you might not realize that America West, Northwest, Continental and AirTran are gone, " he wrote.
While U.S. low-fare airlines such as AirTran and JetBlue also sell tickets this way, most major carriers do not.
It will expand low-cost routes available through Atlanta, home to AirTran (and Delta).
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So far Midwest has rebuffed AirTran's advances, but Neidl believes a merger would provide synergies that could boost earnings.
AirTran Airways, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines, is not charging this fee.
The AirTran promotion, for instance, requires members of its frequent-flier program to register for the promotion before the flight departs.
AirTran ( AAI - news - people ) after a 1996 crash in the Everglades killed 110 people.
Braun currently has deals with AirTran Airways and Nike, as well as an equity stake in Limelite Fusion Energy Drink.
Carriers like AirTran and US Airways are also experimenting with selling last-minute deals on upgrades, a practice likely to become more commonplace.
The combinations of United and Continental, Delta and Northwest, and Southwest Airlines and AirTran may have tipped the industry into oligopoly.
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These discussions soon progressed to both sides entering into a confidentiality agreement, with at least one AirTran board member being briefed regularly.
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These include AirTran Holdings, Allegiant Travel, Hawaiian Holdings, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines.
Expedia announced a partnership with South African Airways, AirTran Airways and AirAsia.
Fare increases have shown a similar pattern for the Delta-Northwest merger, though direct competition from AirTran in Atlanta has held down prices some.
AirTran Airways said first-quarter fees dropped 18% compared with a year earlier as a result of the drop in business travel this year.
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Both Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways said they planned to continue flights in and out of New Orleans until the airport is closed.
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