- Custom Painted Boeing 717 Takes to the Air -

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI), and the NFL's Indianapolis Colts today unveiled a custom painted, one-of-a-kind Boeing 717 honoring the airline's partnership with the team.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091110/NY08069 )

Members of the Indianapolis Colts offensive line were on hand to reveal the plane, which will be seen by millions of people as it serves cities on AirTran Airways' route network of more than 60 destinations.

"AirTran's strong commitment to the Indianapolis community and to the Colts will now be more evident than ever to our customers all over the nation," said Tad Hutcheson, AirTran Airways' vice president of marketing and sales. "There's nothing like seeing your favorite team's plane take flight whether you're at home or on the road."

To celebrate the unveiling of this special aircraft and to benefit the community, the team mascot, Blue, and the Colts cheerleaders demonstrated their strength, literally, by pulling the 120,000 pound aircraft more than 20 feet for charity. The airline acknowledged this successful attempt with a $10,000 donation to the D.R.E.A.M. Foundation and AlIie & Friends.

"The Colts Organization is thrilled with the relationship that we have with AirTran Airways. The commitment by AirTran Airways to create the 'Colts-themed plane' (Colts 1) is very exciting and a humbling tribute to our partnership and fans," said Tom Zupancic, Indianapolis Colts senior vice president of sales and marketing.

This is the third of a special series of custom painted AirTran Airways aircraft. On October 13, AirTran unveiled Falcons 1 in Atlanta, and on October 27, Ravens 1 was unveiled in Baltimore.

AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI) and a Fortune 1000 company, has been ranked the number one low cost carrier in the Airline Quality Rating study for the past two years. AirTran is the only major airline with Wi-Fi on every flight and offers coast-to-coast service on North America's newest all-Boeing fleet. Its low-cost, high-quality product also includes assigned seating, Business Class and complimentary XM Satellite Radio on every flight. To book a flight, visit http://www.airtran.com.

    Media Contacts: AirTran Airways
    Christopher White
    Cynthia Tinsley-Douglas
    678.254.7442

SOURCE AirTran Airways

Back to top

RELATED LINKS
http://www.airtran.com