Honoring AirTran's Final Flight: December 30, 2014

On Sunday December 28th AirTran Airways flight 1 left Atlanta for Tampa. Here's a look at that historic night.

[@awildapastrana1723]

Southwest could you make an Airtran heritage livery leave a like

[@beckystasny8346]

10 year anniversary of the last Airtran flight is coming up soon, so maybe they'll do a heritage livery.

[@boeinga370]

Most airlines don’t give a damn about the airline they’re taking and buying and just buy the company with a “get it over with quickly” sort of attitude, but here there actually honouring and congratulating the company for all they’ve achieved through their years

[@LR-1977]

*cough* alaska buying vx (why did they kill it)

[@anandguruji83]

R.I.P AIRTRAN AIRWAYS 1993-2014

[@anandguruji83]

R.I.P AIRTRAN AIRWAYS 1993-2014

[@gunnerjohnson4103]

anandguruji83 Airtran is now in airline heaven

[@bonnetroblox]

Gunner Johnson With US Airways

[@lupehebbravo1604]

old 86-year-old

[@FABAGENT]

I was on this flight and it was FABULOUS!

[@apoopoe2950]

Brad Johnson for real ??? n I miss airtran I never got a chance to fly with them

[@StarFlights_Buses]

You were on the flight I am so surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😱😱😱

[@ursadmedsrx55403]

This was my 1st airline I flew on as a kid. And now it’s southwest, couldn’t be more happy. We will miss you AirTran, but now it's Southwest!

[@JMG717]

I cannot watch this without getting tears in my eyes. I wish I hadn't missed this.

[@PenskeCup]

I truly hate southwest because of this

[@dpm-jt8rj]

I absolutely loved AirTran, and especially the 717s.

[@nadderesfandiari4516]

Man I loved AirTran. Long live AirTran.

[@qcriderbrandon9047]

Sad to say that I only saw AirTran once and it was during their final day in Denver. Looked like an impressive airline!

[@evanwaters1074]

+QCriderBrandon Yeah.

[@PenskeCup]

I was incredible

[@PenskeCup]

It makes me so sad to see this? Airtran meant so much to my family as we flew them so much!

[@John-vk5sp]

I love you airTran! I miss being a flight attendant for this company

[@georgefredman9878]

So sad. I've been on that airline and it is awesome

[@lullermcall2671]

George Fredman h

[@gunnerjohnson7594]

I miss seeing AirTran at BWI😢. However I got to see AirTran last year 😊

[@danielalvarado5796]

Lol I saw AirTran like 2 weeks ago XD

[@apta6001]

my first ever plane ride was airtran i miss it

[@ellawhite5167]

Adamg D same and my return flight was in business

[@jamesmcintyre4480]

Same

[@lukemontgomery9683]

Same. And I was hooked on airplanes from that moment on.

[@KevinMeno2008]

I wish I was on FL1 ATL-TPA (B717-200 N717JL/740). AirTran was the first airline I flew all by myself in 2008 (FL55 ATL-LAX).

[@legendarydaniel_.6883]

ill never forget my last time flying on airtran BWI to ATL 717

[@bluestreak168]

I cried while watching this

[@RealBatmanz]

Not all of us made it. Congratulations to those who did. May the rest of your careers be rewarding.

[@robertbauers2210]

@The Real Batman Did AirTran employees have to interview with Southwest ro become employees of Southwest?

[@airlineinsider239]

We're all going to miss those guys. Long live little a,

[@mrbell4359]

Airline Insider

[@clachapelle]

I MISS AIRTRAN..............

[@Max-nb6hf]

When I was 6 or 7, I was in a flight from Detroit to Orlando. The captain and first officer invited me on the flight deck after we landed and let me sit in the pilot seat. Great memory!

[@pastortonycuevas9447]

It's also sadly how twa, contiental, northwest, eastern, pan am, us airways and many many more that have defunct.

[@EricEbac22]

+Luis Cuevas Actually, U.S. Airways is still in operation, though they are in the process of becoming full-blown American Airlines; the others you mentioned, however, are not in operation. Eastern and PanAm ceased operations at the end of 1991, TWA at the end of 2001, Continental at the end of 2004 (as a result of United taking them over), and Northwest at the end of 2010 (as a result of merging with (in 2009) and later being bought out by Delta). As far as the other airlines that have gone defunct, I don't know what others have folded up shop in the last 25+ years.

[@EricEbac22]

KryptonitePs4Gamer M Yes, they certainly are; the takeover by United became final at the end of 2004.

[@shchorss]

It's not sad how Northworst is defunct. Actually glad they are, flew them in '98 from Memphis to Detroit, Detroit to Munich.

[@user-zb2nm3kq3f]

جوادیساری

[@ericebacher3664]

You are correct; as of November 1, 2015, US Airways is now full-blown American Airlines

[@alexcentury2166]

AirTran was my growing-up airline. Every summer flight 257 there and flight 260 back.

[@ethansgames2005]

Thank you for my city in Florida

[@skol2142]

My first time taking airtran was last year (ATL-MSP) I had no idea they were closing so soon

[@BigDadSkyPilot]

I flew on AirTran when I was four to MKE from LGA and again on southwest

[@mistastoudt404]

AirTran has always been my favorite airline! Free pretzels and free Coke... two things Frontier lacks!

[@chunjakim5296]

MistaStoudt404 kbs노래자랑

[@ianshyu]

Southwest still gives free pretzels and coke.

[@P25AES]

Those damn pretzels were great.

[@JoseTwitterFan]

Very sad, my first-ever passenger flight was a nonstop from Long Island MacArthur Airport to Orlando International.

[@williselevators]

I flew on AirTran From Houston Hobby to Orlando back in 2009. but I made a stop at Atlanta before going to Orlando

[@liamh1015]

i was at gate c3 today on a flight from atlanta to tampa

[@lagoman29]

AirTran was the first airline i flew on, and now I only fly on Southwest. But I still wonder what happened to all of AirTran's 717s?

[@evanwaters1074]

+lagoman29 They were sold off to Delta.

[@shchorss]

+The Aviating Railfanner Leased

[@evanwaters1074]

Justin Dobbs Whatever.

[@ellawhite5167]

The Aviating Railfanner delta is leasing them Southwest owns them actually

[@theatlantaenthusiast]

RIP AIRTRAN we will miss you 😱

[@jadencloward1312]

I missed air tran it sad when its left

[@OHAREAVIATION]

...and I STILL got my Citrus in for today. ;) (you won't get that one unless you're in the industry).

[@allegiant804-floridaaviati5]

Airtran's callsign is Citrus..? Also, the last flight had the callsign Critter as a Valujet nod.

[@richardsingleton6104]

Jay's O'HareAviation Plane Spotting HD c

[@sam_likes_airplanes]

Thanks a lot SWA for running AirTran...BTW Delta called....you got evicted from Atlanta

[@DELTAMD88FAN]

Delta rules!!!

[@ryan17954]

Wat? SW is still flying out of Atlanta?

[@sam_likes_airplanes]

Ryan Cunningham Sadly

[@EricEbac22]

Ryan Yuschock Yes; as part of their merger with AirTran, Southwest has been flying out of Atlanta since 2012 and Atlanta's airport (Hartsfield Jackson) has also been a Focus Airport for Southwest since that time as well. Also, Southwest coming to Atlanta is not necessarily a bad thing, just like when the airline resumed flights into and out of Denver in 2006 after a 20-year absence.

[@rockvilleraven]

DeltaMD-88Fan AirTran had the second largest hub out of Atlanta, next to Delta, before the Southwest takeover.

[@jamesmcintyre4480]

Well done good an faithful servant Airtran

[@jsha8456]

They used to have consistent prices. I used to fly Phx to Atl for $99 or $109 one way. No surprises. They also let college students fly anywhere for 99 on stand by. I miss them!

[@spottingwithaxel2226]

I Saw an airtran plane on 9/21/16 taking off from LGA NY

[@John-vk5sp]

I miss flying for AirTran

[@matthewdehavilandkay8449]

Southwest Team this is Mission Control Houston from Winnipeg, I'm Taking over Few Air Tran Jets for Charter Operations in Kenora.

[@Sean-wp7st]

Pontoons?

[@CivilDefenseSoutherner]

I have all the AirTran Airways planes in infinite flight and planes were there when I got the app

[@Nastaran490]

Wow great ❤️🙏🏻👍🏻

[@theatlantaenthusiast]

Chicago to Atlanta and Atlanta to Chicago I miss you

[@ericebacher3664]

When AirTran had flights into and out of Chicago, did they fly out of O'Hare, Midway, or both?

[@EricEbac22]

What that means, Charles Randolph, is that AirTran's final flight took off from Hartsfield for Tampa on the evening of December 28, 2014; the next day (December 29), Southwest began a complete takeover of all of AirTran's operations at all of the latter airline's airports.

[@FABAGENT]

+EricEbac22 Actually they already had some time before. As soon as the sale closed after shareholder approval, Airtran became a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines.

[@EricEbac22]

+Brad Johnson Hmm; I see. I was always under the assumption that AirTran didn't become full-fledged Southwest until the end of 2014, start of 2015.

[@FABAGENT]

+EricEbac22 well technically Airtran did not become Southwest. Southwest purchased Airtran and gradually through the time of closing the sale and the final flight absorbed the operations. Southwest was a much larger airline than Airtran ever was.

[@EricEbac22]

Brad Johnson I see; thanks for clearing that up.

[@RyanZiegler]

Southwest make an airtran rememberance livery!!

[@mylittlescienceproject]

This is so sad, this is my childhood airplane brand from the late 90's early 2000's can I has a t-shirt?

[@octopathtimetraveler5881]

Hey, I’m a big airplane geek.

[@TheDylanJoyce]

what do you mean, "Last Flight" I swear I still see them!

[@ubahnlexi]

(very) late comment, but a few of the planes acquired from AirTran had not been painted in the new Southwest livery (as of 5 years ago when you posted this comment, that is)

[@LAD6504]

Is AirTran now southwest

[@EricEbac22]

Yes, they certainly are; after December 28, 2014, AirTran ceased operations and became full-blown Southwest Airlines.

[@tamikatanner2183]

i miss airtrain

[@rickiamcneil5062]

Tamika Tanner .a.s.n

[@MM-wd1bq]

fuk crapwest bring airtran back!

[@supa_hot_ice5449]

no bring northwest back

[@caldwellkids2681]

Gt

[@rosannascarabello2831]

Tamika Tanner U88 Jim

[@flightsimenjoyer]

its sad but happy

[@flightsimenjoyer]

+SharkMate_ 77 that they are with southwest

[@Caroline.01]

Everybody: 🥳🥳🥳 Aviation fans: 😭🤧

[@KevinMeno2008]

I hear "Let It Go" in the background at the TPA party

[@newchannelaviatorcyan4410]

+Kevin Meno I do too.

[@EricEbac22]

+Kevin Meno Well, the cold never bothered them anyway (The last line in the chorus of that song, in case your curious).

[@arielgonzalez5296]

Is this a final good bye airplane?

[@EricEbac22]

Yes, it certainly is; the next day (December 29, 2014), all of AirTran's jets were sold off, with Southwest purchasing and painting its livery over all of AirTran's 737 jets and Delta purchasing and painting its livery over all of AirTran's 717 jets.

[@YQRAviation]

​@@EricEbac22Did Southwest Technically Have 717s In Their Fleet For A Very Short Time

[@wdharvey1]

I worked for Airtran for a minute....in reservations....I thought something was funky about them..even after they took over ValueJet, what with that that crash in Florida and all...(god rest their souls)...but, to have this kind of celebration for a company that was nothing more than a sweat-shop? glad to see they are gone. I walked out in the middle of my two week notice....they said, ""well, you know you cant' come back if you don't work out the notice"...LOL! I guess I made the right decision, then. I couldn't sit in that cubicle for another hour with people asking me, "why is the flight late? can't you look out the window and see if the flight is coming in?" (yes, people acutally are that stupid)

[@BigDadSkyPilot]

Lagoman29 they now fly for delta with a new inside

[@legendarydaniel_.6883]

fun fact my first time ever flying on a plane was airtran from ohio to atl

[@pattyfixico5051]

legendary daniel_. IyP yooyuun,updates j vui.

[@pattyfixico5051]

legendary daniel_. IyP yooyuun,updates j vui.

[@pattyfixico5051]

legendary daniel_. IyP yooyuun,updates j vui. WIPO t

[@Mateo-lb3op]

Southwest evolution: First it started off as ValuJet. After ValuJet had a plane crash, the airline eventually turned into AirTran Airways. From 1993 to 2004, they changed their livery. Then years later, they merged with Southwest Airlines.

[@tamikatanner2183]

i used to ride airtrain

[@Buc_Stops_Here]

AirTran - the airline that saved the jobs at ValuJet. I guess that is what it is remembered for.

[@toyotaandlexussupercharged6699]

I miss them air tran but I love southwest

[@highnoon9333]

Did all the airtran flight attendants get to keep their jobs when SWA bought them?

[@gogosenkishev2431]

Why did AirTran "Die" please answer.

[@ryan17954]

My guess would be why run two separate companies that do the same thing. So they merged them into southwest. It's less confusing, costless to run and they already have everything in place with SW. So they just have to repaint the planes, retrain the staff and they are ready to go.

[@EricEbac22]

Ryan Yuschock The 737s went to Southwest; the 717s went to Delta.

[@EricEbac22]

gogo senkishev Had AirTran not merged with Southwest, and then the latter airline completely taken over, AirTran would have gone bankrupt and would have had to liquidate everything.

[@HerobrineDoesMinecraft123]

+gogo senkishev It integrated into Southwest Airlines and Delta Airlines.

[@FABAGENT]

+EricEbac22 That's not true.

[@xxfazekiller28xx41]

I LOVE SOUTHWEST. And I heard us airways will be an airline 4 ever it's true

[@macaelatice-loma1048]

nope American merged with US airways becoming American...

[@tombickers]

@@macaelatice-loma1048 In the stricter sense, US Airways acquired AA's assets and operating certificate, so the airline we call American is actually what we used to call US Airways. But then again, what we used to call US Airways was actually the post-2005 merger business entity formerly known as America West. It's ironic that the largest legacy carrier (in terms of fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passenger mile) is actually a post-deregulation operation in a trench coat!

[@carrot5867]

Imagine how sad it would be if it crashed

[@togsll]

But I saw 3 airtran flights at Boston logan just the other day....

[@EricEbac22]

Those must have been planes that were about to be converted to the Southwest livery.

[@MTVlogs]

Depending on what type of plane, the Boeing 737's were repainted to match SouthWest Airline's fleet. While the Boeing 717's were being sold to Delta Airlines. So what you saw at Boston Logan, they were most likely one of these two types of aircraft but haven't been re-painted yet, but were put on flight schedules to fly either by SouthWest or Delta Airlines.

[@EricEbac22]

+MTVlogs Ah; so the 737s were changed to Southwest's livery, while the 717s were changed to Delta's livery? I had no idea.

[@MTVlogs]

EricEbac22 Yeah, because SouthWest only operates the 737 fleet of aircraft, they had no use of the 717's aquired from AirTran so they were looking to sell, and since Delta Airlines retired the DC-9 fleet, the 717's are replacing their older DC-9 fleet as well as some of their CRJ fleet.

[@MTVlogs]

EricEbac22 www.planespotters.net/Production_List/search.php?manufacturer=Boeing&type=717&fleet=5673&fleetStatus=1 list of 717's on Delta's fleet, you can see some are from SouthWest (AirTran). If you look at registration "N994AT" there are pictures of this plane in AirTran's paint, and now changed to Delta's paing scheme.

[@dvferyance]

Sad day for Milwaukee for sure. Southwest was already big enough they did not need to take over AirTran.

[@lriddle21]

Very sad, such a great little airline. Southwest blows the big one.

[@EricEbac22]

lriddle21 Unfortunately, had AirTran not merged in with Southwest (and then eventually, the latter airline completely taken them over), AirTran would have gone completely bankrupt and would have had no other recourse but to liquidate all of their assets just to pay any and all debts that they would have had at the time of their completely ceasing operations.

[@dvferyance]

@@EricEbac22 Would it have mattered? Southwest was already big enough before. The only thing that changed by them getting Air Tran was Southwest got to be in Atlanta. Unless you live in greater Atlanta really nothing would have changed anyways. Southwest was already big in Orlando and Baltimore which were Air Tran hubs premerger.

[@tamaaay]

1:06

[@davidmarmer4794]

#ripairtran

[@Canokten747]

ValuJet...

[@hockeyhoodack9295]

Make a heritage livery

[@skylarsullivan3238]

holy shit. you really have to love planes to go to that party.

[@EricEbac22]

The party, from what I saw, was only open to employees of Southwest and AirTran.

[@dontreldontrel416]

I came here from watching the Value Jet Crash. I cleaned The AirTran airplane.

[@InChristalone737]

😩😩😩

[@aviatorcrafty102]

Airtran was my favorite airline!!!!!! They had great service. Not so much for Southwest.

[@manulmartinez8459]

TheCraftingMaster 72o9715. Theresa. if. You. Don't. Want. Me. why. You. Don't. Forget. About. Me. Ok.

[@thomasezekiel5179]

TheCraftingMaste r

[@pourindiesel]

And there went the cheap flights to Orlando.

[@robertoreyes8031]

Bachata música

[@otto1630]

airtran was sooo much better than southwest

[@djian703]

I Think Northwest it a best airlines then over Southwest

[@andrewthepokerchamp]

10 years ago or to be correct more than 10 years ago, Southwest airlines officially agreed to merge with AirTrain Who else thinks they need to paint one of their 737's in a former airtrain scheme?

[@dvferyance]

Instead of doing that Southwest needs to break off into 2 airlines. They are too big as is.

[@AndroidSunner]

Well, I hope that you will survive the gossip, because AirTran was formerly valujet =3

[@chrisreisinger4935]

I hope your referring to southwest or valuejet because airtran was a fantastic airline

[@AndroidSunner]

Gaming Blueberry Omg, Finnaly, you agree with me that AirTran was Fantastic! =D

[@AndroidSunner]

***** SWA or SWA?

[@EricEbac22]

+Smile Studios When did Valujet become AirTran?

[@FABAGENT]

+EricEbac22 1997

[@aviatorcyan1365]

why u cryin so damn loud

[@tharii314]

So how in the world can I imagine a future without greenhouse effect and global warming? Even this URL has Co2.

[@crdunn906]

if southwest waned just the 737s could't air tran just fly 717s

[@EricEbac22]

+Christina Dunn Unfortunately, no; AirTran had to liquidate and sell off everything as a condition of Southwest taking them over at the end of last year. As a direct result, Southwest bought and painted their livery over all of AirTran's 737 jets while Delta bought and painted their livery over all of their 717 jets. With exception of a period in the late 1970s-early 1980s, when the airline flew some 727 jets leased to them by Braniff, Southwest has only flown 737s.

[@adamrosales3617]

I REMEBER JUST FOR FUN I FLEW KPHF TO KATL NACK TO KPHF

[@anishbudida6010]

AirTran still flys

[@SkyHighGuys]

Anish Budida no they don’t

[@bambijuju1032]

I never liked AirTran

[@ajstebick643]

This is so stupid because ive always took AirTran since I was three now I hAVE TO TAKE SOUTHWEST .SOUTHWEST IS TERRIBLE SEVICE QUALLITY

[@EricEbac22]

+Alec Stebick Southwest isn't all that bad; about the only real pain in the shorts is not knowing whether or not your flight is going to be on time or delayed/cancelled for whatever reason, I.E. cancellation due to weather or mechanical problems, delays because of long lines of flights on the runway (resulting in one flight having to depart at a time), or the plane intended for your flight being jacked for use for another flight (the latter two situations happened to me when I went out to Colorado and back this past September).

[@FABAGENT]

+Lincoln Dow and if you look at DOT stats. Southwest is usually always ranked #1 of all carriers in CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!

[@southwest0092]

Feel bad for AirTran leaving.