Juris George Mikelsons (; April 8, 1937 – May 1, 2024) was a Latvian-American airline executive and pilot in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the founder of

ATA Airlines ATA Airlines, Inc., formerly known as American Trans Air and commonly referred to as ATA, was an American low-cost and charter airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana. ATA operated scheduled passenger flights throughout the U.S. mainland and ...

. He was born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, in 1938 on the eve of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His family fled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

during the mid-1940s to escape the

Soviet occupation of the Baltic states The occupation of the Baltic states was a period of annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union from 1940 until its dissolution in 1991. For a period of several years during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic st ...

Early years

As a child, Mikelsons would peer out of bomb shelters to catch any glimpse he could of the planes flying in the skies. This was the birth of his passion in life, which was to fly planes. His family moved to

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, during the 1950s when his father was offered a job as a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist for the

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is a major American orchestra based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The largest performing arts organization in Indiana, the orchestra was founded in 1930 and is based at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown ...

. His father Rudy, who introduced Muriel and George, was working for the St. Louis symphony. He followed years after his parents moved there 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 Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

industry. He immediately began flying lessons and became the chief

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

and

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of the Voyager 1000

air travel club The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1940 from a split of the Civil Aeronautics Authority and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services (including scheduled passeng ...

Founding of ATA Airlines

In 1973, Mikelsons started his travel club, Ambassadair, taking a loan and mortgaging his home to purchase a

Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is a retired American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate ...

, which he named "Miss Indy". Ambassadair was a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

-based airline that provided cheap vacation fares. Mikelsons and an employee piloted the plane, loaded the luggage, cleaned the cabin, and served as the tour guide. His hard work and determination allowed him to purchase additional planes for his charter-based airline service. In 1984, after the deregulation of the airline industry, Mikelsons formed Amtran, Inc., as the parent company of American Trans Air (later renamed

) headquartered near

Indianapolis International Airport Indianapolis International Airport is an international airport located southwest of Downtown Indianapolis in Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority, and the airport serves over 5 ...

. He also formed ATA Leisure Corp., Amber Travel, ATA Training Corp., ATA Cargo, and ExecuJet as subsidiaries as his business grew.. In 1993, ATA made its initial public offering, trading on the

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National Market System under the symbol AMTR. Mikelsons, a noted conservative always notorious for putting his money where his mouth was, purchased a 75% stake in the company. In 1998, Mikelsons retired, giving the reigns of the company to John Tague. Tague began a massive expansion with new aircraft and the establishment of a hub at Chicago's Midway airport. After the

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in 2001, the slump in airline travel and rising fuel costs severely impacted ATA. Mikelsons came out of retirement to save his troubled airline. ATA emerged from bankruptcy on February 28, 2006, after Mikelson had secured a major code-share agreement with

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...

. Upon emergence from bankruptcy, Mikelson retired from ATA and its airline holdings, turning the reins of the company over to a

MatlinPatterson MatlinPatterson is a distressed securities fund that participates in distressed and credit opportunities on a global basis. The firm was established in 2002 as a spinout from Credit Suisse First Boston. It is headquartered in New York City and ...

-led

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

and former Southwest executive John G. Denison. ATA Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection again on April 2, 2008, and announced the discontinuation of all operations "following the loss of a key contract for our military charter business".

Personal information

Mikelsons and his wife Muriel lived near Indianapolis and had two sons (Jay and David Mikelsons and a grandson, Beckham Juris Mikelsons). He was the 1996 recipient of the

Tony Jannus Award The Tony Jannus Award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in scheduled commercial aviation by airline executives, inventors and manufacturers, and government leaders. The award is conferred annually by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Avia ...

for outstanding leadership in the commercial aviation industry. His wife was a concert

ist. They were active in a number of area

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

s, including the

Indianapolis Children's Museum The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the world's largest children's museum. It is located at 3000 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana in the United Northwest Area neighborhood of the city. The museum is accredited by the American Al ...

and the

. Mikelsons died on May 1, 2024, at the age of 87.

ATA Airlines chronology

References

External links

ATA Airlines official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikelsons, J. George Latvian World War II refugees Soviet emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Indianapolis Businesspeople in aviation American airline chief executives American commercial aviators 1937 births 2024 deaths