This will be really new ground for Southwest because in order to code share they will have to have an interline agreement and I don't think LUV has ever don that before. Mark ATA Holdings today announced that it selected the bid of Southwest Airlines for acquisition of certain of ATA's Midway Airport lease rights, subject to approvals by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the City of Chicago. The bid of Southwest Airlines was selected by ATA upon conclusion of an auction, which took place this week pursuant to authorization of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, in which ATA's Chapter 11 reorganization case is pending. Bidding at the auction was Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways, Inc. at the offices of ATA's law firm Baker & Daniels. ATA's Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors concurred with the selection. A hearing to approve the bid of Southwest Airlines as the highest and best bid, and to authorize the transactions called for in the bid, is scheduled before Judge Basil Lorch III on December 21. The final bid presented by Southwest Airlines includes a total of $117 million in commitments to ATA, with the transfer to Southwest Airlines of lease rights to six gates and a maintenance hangar at Chicago Midway Airport for $40 million, $47 million in financing and an investment of $30 million into ATA once it emerges from bankruptcy, representing 27.5% of equity in a reorganized ATA. ATA and Southwest Airlines will also enter into a code-sharing agreement--the first significant code-share for both airlines. As ATA begins the transfer of its lease rights for six gates to Southwest Airlines, ATA emphasized that it continues business as usual. The airline intends to stand by its customer commitments, honoring tickets, upholding its full flight schedule, in-flight services and frequent flyer reward programs, as it has continued to do during its reorganization. ATA expects to reduce its fleet by about 20 percent as it scales back in Chicago. However, with the terms of the code share agreement with Southwest Airlines and the retention by ATA of eight gates in Chicago Midway, ATA remains a larger airline than it would have been under the AirTran Airways Inc. competing bid. ATA plans to continue its expansion in the Indianapolis market, continue to serve the west coast to Hawaii market, as well as operate military and commercial flights. Southwest Airlines has also committed to priority interviews for ATA employees affected by the carrier's downsizing. _______________________ADVERTISEMENT________________________