Mikelsons, J. George

Juris George Mikelsons founded ATA Airlines. He was born in Riga, Latvia in 1938 during the end of the World War II. His family fled to Germany during the mid 1940s to escape the Soviet occupation.

As a child, Mikelsons would peer out of bomb shelters to catch any glimpse he could of the planes being flown in the skies. This was the birth of his passion in life, which was to fly planes. His family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana during the 1950s where his father was offered a job as a violinist for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Mikelsons finally began pursuing his passion when he saw a sign offering flights for under $10. It was then that he flew for the first time. This flight sparked his desire to enter the aviation industry. He immediately began flying lessons and became chief pilot and director of the Voyager 1000 travel club. Mikelsons resigned his position in 1973 to pursue his own dreams.

In 1973, Mikelsons took a loan from banker Kenneth Wolff and put a mortgage on his home to purchase a Boeing 720, which he titled "Miss Indy," and started his own travel club, Ambassadair. Ambassadair was a charter-based airline which provided cheap vacation fares. Mikelsons, along with a fellow employee Mike Doades, piloted the plane, loaded the luggage, cleaned the cabin, and served as the tour guide. His hard work and determination allowed him to purchase more planes for his charter-based airline service. In 1984, after the deregulation of the Airline industry, Mikelsons formed Amtran, Inc., the former parent company of American Trans Air, which has since became ATA Airlines. Mikelsons then built an estate on the Northwest outskirts of Indianapolis, housing his wife, two children, and a Bell Jet Ranger III. Mikelsons soon became a respected public figure, donating to numerous charities all across Indiana.

People began to refer to him as somewhat of a "fly-boy", personally piloting his twin-engine helicopter from his Indianapolis home to ATA's headquarters near Indianapolis International Airport. Mikelsons also formed ATA Leisure Corp., Amber Travel, ATA Training Corp., ATA Cargo, ExecuJet.

Mikelsons loaned another helicopter to news companies and to local law enforcement and hospitals for lifelines. In 1993, ATA made its initial public offering, trading on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol "AMTR". Mikelsons, a noted conservative always notorious for putting his money where his mouth is, purchased a 75% stake in the company. In 1998, Mikelsons retired, giving the reigns of the company to John Tague. After the terrorist attacks upon the airlines on 9/11 and the rising costs of oil, the airline industry hit a major slump and jeopardized the future of the company.

Mikelsons came out of retirement to save his troubled airline. However, ATA inevitably went bankrupt on October 26, 2004, along with many other airlines. Mikelsons resigned knowing that he did all he could, and on February 28, 2006, ATA emerged from bankruptcy. Today, ATA is the largest military charter airline in the United States.