What to do if you have tickets on Aloha, ATA, Skybus, Skyway, or Champion Air

As promised in my earlier blog post, here are more specifics about the four airlines that recently stopped flying and one that has announced plans to do so next month. 

Aloha Airlines
The airline's site has FAQs for customers. Although Aloha's president and CEO cited "unfair competition" as what drove the company out of business, its competitors might provide your best hope:

• United Airlines and Aloha operated a code share agreement, a pact that allows carriers to sell seats for each other. United says it will rebook customers flying on a United ticket for no additional charge, where space is available; customers traveling on Aloha tickets are being offered a discounted one-way fare through the end of April. For more details, click here.
• Former rival Hawaiian Airlines is adding 6,000 seats to its daily inter-island schedule to help fill the void. The carrier's site provides these details on its plans to accommodate Aloha passengers. Aloha ticket holders can also call 877-892-8896 to hear recorded information.
• Mesa Airlines—which operates as go! within Hawaii—increased service from an average of 54 to 94 daily flights.
  

ATA
This airline says it is unable to offer refunds to those who paid by cash or check (no big surprise there) and suggests passengers contact other carriers. But it also says: "Please note, however, that other U.S. scheduled airlines are not obligated to honor ATA tickets."

ATA also sold tickets through a code share agreement with Southwest Airlines. Southwest plans to rebook customers who bought Southwest tickets but were due to travel on ATA by rebooking them on "a new itinerary closest to their previous travel plans" or offering a full refund on any unused portion of tickets. Southwest reservations agents are in the process of contacting passengers, but a toll-free number is available as well: 800-308-5037.

Skybus
At this writing, a brief post on the airline’s Web site advises passengers to contact their credit-card companies for refunds, adding that "More information for customers and others will be made available on the Skybus web site as it becomes available."

More bad news: AIG Travel Guard, which sold travel insurance directly through the Skybus site, says policies purchased directly through the Skybus site don't cover financial default. Further details are available on Travel Guard's site.

Skyway
As previously announced in January, Midwest Airlines "transitioned" all its Midwest Connect flights from Skyway to another commuter carrier, SkyWest Airlines of St. George, Utah. SkyWest is now serving those shorter routes with 50-seat Canadair regional jets.

Champion Air
This a rare case of an airline pre-announcing its shutdown. The details of the May 31 grounding are available on Champion Air's site. The key provision is this: "Champion will fulfill all outstanding service commitments and will remain fully in compliance with all regulatory, operational and labor contract requirements. The company has adequate funds to continue operations and to settle all outstanding financial obligations."

However, consumers who booked Champion flights through Worry Free Vacations, a division of MLT Vacations, a Northwest Airlines Corp. subsidiary, would be well-advised to contact the vacation packager to confirm their plans and ease any worries.—William J. McGee

Comments

[Bonnie]

My 16 yr old daughter purchased tickets on Skybus with a debit card. The bank is saying that they are not refunding her money because the web site advises passengers to "contact their credit-card companies for refunds" & this does not apply to debit cards. We are not sure if this is true or not yet. She did purchase the travel insurance, but as you can see above, financial default is not covered. When I called the travel insurance company to ask for any other advice they had, or if they knew when "More information for customers and others will be made available on the Skybus web site as it becomes available" (as quoted from the skybus website) I was told that the Skybus website was not going to be updated or give any more information. If anyone has any advice it sure would be appreciated!! The one thing I can advise consumers to do is to purchase your airline tickets with a credit card! But you must purchase them within 60 days of your flight as they will not honor a refund 60 days after the transaction

[Oyun]

very thank for you