NEWS
RELEASE
Media
Contact: Rick Hightower
Michelle
Foley, or
Dennis
Poynter
317.282.2659
ATA
Holdings Corp. and ATA Airlines Announce Realignment of
Senior
Leadership Team Responsibilities
INDIANAPOLIS,
January 10, 2006 - ATA Holdings Corp. (ATAHQ) and ATA Airlines announced
today
the following promotions and realignment of responsibilities at the senior
leadership level, effective immediately. The new structure reflects ATA’s
intention to drive accountability down to each of its two lines of business
-
Military/Charter and Scheduled Service.
| · |
Subodh
Karnik, currently the Company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial
Officer, will become Executive Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer
(COO) - reporting to John Denison, Chairman, President and CEO. Karnik
will have direct responsibility for all operations including marketing,
planning, and finance functions.
|
| · |
Captain
John Graber, currently the Company’s Senior Vice President, Flight
Operations and Maintenance, will become General Manager - Military/Charter
and Senior Vice President - Operations. Captain Graber will report
to the
COO. As General Manager-Military/Charter, he will have responsibility
for
all aspects of ATA’s Military/Charter business. As Senior Vice
President-Operations, his responsibilities will include Flight Operations,
Maintenance, System Operations Control, and Safety and
Security.
|
| · |
ATA
has created a new position, Senior Vice President - Scheduled Service,
and
expects to name a leader for that new role within the next month.
The
SVP-Scheduled Service will also report to the COO and will have
responsibility for the Marketing and Market Planning functions as
well as
Inflight, Station Operations, Cargo, and Corporate Communications.
|
| · |
Doug
Yakola, currently the Company’s Senior Vice President, Customers and
Ground Operations, will become Senior Vice President - Chief Financial
Officer (CFO) reporting to the COO. In addition to his finance and
accounting responsibilities, Yakola will be responsible for Strategic
Sourcing, Information Technology, and Real Estate. Francis J. Conway,
ATA’s interim CFO, will remain with the Company until ATA emerges from
Chapter 11, expected during the first quarter of 2006, and will assist
Yakola with all aspects of his new role until that time.
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Senior
Leadership Realignment
Page
2
“ATA
is
fortunate to have professionals with the experience and determination needed
to
lead ATA to a profitable future. I am of course very pleased to announce
that
Subodh Karnik, Captain John Graber and Doug Yakola have accepted their new
assignments. Our Company needs their energy, vision, and good judgment as
we
complete the financial and operational restructuring process,” said John
Denison, Chairman, CEO, and President. “Against harsh odds, ATA will emerge from
Chapter 11 in First Quarter 2006 because of our employees’ hard work and
sacrifices, their caring for one another, and most importantly because of
their
absolute determination to ‘win’. Work remains to be done, but I have no doubt of
our ultimate success because our employees will accept nothing less,” he
added.
| · |
John
Denison - Chairman, CEO, and President: John Denison was recently
elected
to succeed George Mikelsons as Chairman of the Board of the Company
upon
Mikelsons’ resignation effective Dec. 31, 2005. He joined ATA in February
of 2005 after a three-year period of retirement from Southwest Airlines.
There his responsibilities included serving as Executive Vice President
of
Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining
Southwest
in 1986, Denison served for six years in various corporate finance
roles
at the LTV Corporation also in Dallas, Texas. Among other
responsibilities, he assisted in the financial restructuring of the
conglomerate that held interests in aerospace defense, steel and
energy.
|
Denison’s
leadership in restructuring efforts for struggling companies dates back to
the
1970s. He spent his early career in the Detroit area with more than a decade
at
the Chrysler Corporation. As Manager of Corporate Finance, Denison played
a role
in the restructuring of the automaker and was part of a team responsible
for
obtaining the government assistance that ultimately saved the company. Denison
earned a bachelor of arts in economics at Oakland University in Rochester,
Mich.
and continued his graduate education at Wayne State University, where he
earned
a master of business administration in finance.
| · |
Subodh
Karnik - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer - Subodh
Karnik joined ATA in June of 2005 as Senior Vice President and Chief
Commercial Officer. Karnik has 15 years of airline experience that
includes serving in a wide range of leadership roles at three major
carriers. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President of Marketing
Planning at Delta Air Lines. Before joining Delta in 1999, Karnik
worked
as Staff Vice President of International Finance at Continental Airlines
and CFO of subsidiary Continental Micronesia. He moved to Continental
from
Northwest Airlines, where Karnik maintained responsibilities in alliances,
international sales, revenue management and strategic planning. He
is a
graduate of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science and the
University of Michigan Ross School of
Business.
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—more—
Senior
Leadership Realignment
Page
3
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Doug
Yakola - Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer: Doug
Yakola
joined ATA in 2003 as Vice President, Station Operations and Cargo.
In
2005, he was promoted to Senior Vice President, Customers and Ground
operations. Prior to joining ATA, Yakola spent eighteen years at
Northwest
Airlines. His experience with Northwest included director-level roles
with
responsibility for the passenger service operation at Northwest’s largest
hub (Detroit), overseeing luggage handling worldwide, and station
technology planning. Yakola holds a master of business administration
from
the Kellogg School of Management - Northwestern University, and a
bachelor
of science in business administration from the University of Central
Florida.
|
| · |
Captain
John Graber - General Manager - Military/Charter and Senior Vice
President
- Operations: Captain John Graber joined ATA in 1993 as a First Officer.
He has held numerous positions at the carrier, from Crew Resource
Management and Ground School Instructor to Director of Flight Standards
and Training. Graber was promoted to Senior Vice President, Flight
Operations and Maintenance in January of 2005. Prior to joining ATA,
Graber spent time flying for Pan Am Express in Europe, TW Express
Airlines, Inc., and the U.S. Army. He is a recipient of the Bronze
Star
and two Air Medals with V device for exemplary service in Operation
Desert
Storm. Graber holds a master of business administration, cum laude,
from
the University of Notre Dame, and a bachelor of arts from Edison
State
College.
|
| · |
Frank
Conway - Francis J. Conway joined ATA Holdings Corp. in June of 2005
as
Interim Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he continues to work
closely with ATA’s senior leadership team to direct the Company’s Chapter
11 reorganization efforts. Conway’s professional background includes more
than 20 years of experience serving financially distressed companies
as an
officer, director and advisor. Much of this work has been in the
aviation
industry, where he has served as financial advisor to scheduled carriers
as well as an officer and director with numerous aircraft leasing
entities. Conway comes to ATA from Navigant Capital Advisors, LLC,
the
dedicated corporate finance advisory business of Navigant Consulting,
Inc.
(“Navigant”). As Managing Director for Navigant Capital Advisors, he leads
the firm’s restructuring practice. Conway holds a bachelor of science in
accounting and management from New York University and is a Certified
Public Accountant (C.P.A.).
|
ATA
Airlines, headquartered in Indianapolis, now in its 33rd year of operation,
offers affordable travel to major business centers and popular vacation
destinations like New York, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Hawaii, Florida and Mexico.
Through direct and connecting Southwest Airlines codeshare flights, ATA now
serves customers in more than 60 markets. For more information, visit
ata.com.
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