Indianapolis-based ATA Airlines filed for bankruptcy last night "after it lost a key military charter contract amid skyrocketing fuel prices." This prompted the now-defunct airline to stop all service today, stranding thousands of passengers. (An aside: ABC 7's Terry McSweeney just, like, freaked the fuck out about it on the 11 a.m. news. Seriously, he said "dreams are being taken away." His head is going to explode.)
The airline's downfall will also affect some Southwest Airlines' ticket holders. It seems that ATA has "a code-share agreement with [Southwest] for travel to Hawaii." But for all of you white sand and poi fans, fear not: Southwest claims that it will "rebook passengers who were scheduled to travel on ATA" or refund unused portions of the tickets.
This makes the second airline to come crashing down this week. Aloha Airlines wiped out earlier this week as well.