has anyone flown AirTran?

[beckms]

I found tickets for a reasonable price, but flying still gives me the willies. Has anyone had any experiences with this airline (for my peace of mind)?

[beacooker]

I've flown them before, years ago. The plane did not crash.

[slknight]

If you didn't know, AirTran is Value Jet's new name.

[CherylCH]

We fly AirTran all the time on business in my office with no mishaps. Knock on wood.

[clairea]

I fly Airtran quite frequently, and haven't had any problems. I am usually flying by myself with 2 small kids, and I have found them to be very helpful and accomodating (usually more so than the larger airlines). I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

About the relationship with Valujet -- I believe airtran was an existing airline (although smaller than Valuejet) and the 2 merged and for obvious reasons used the Airtran name instead of Valuejet. I don't think they just renamed Valuejet.

[foodiedelite]

Have flown them several times. Bare bones airlines, but does it's job. Take food for your flight.

[valeriek]

clairea is correct - Airtran was an airline in it's own right. ValueJet bought them out after the Florida accident (which wasn't ValueJet's fault - it was the shippers fault for not labeling the dangerous material correctly, thus ValueJet stuck it on their plane not knowing what it was - or at least that is my understanding of what happened). Instead of keeping the ValueJet name, which was a PR nightmare, they kept the Airtran name. Also, where ValueJet had ageing aircraft in their fleet, Airtran's fleet (even though smaller) was younger, thus ValueJet was able to improve their fleet. They are a barebones airline, compete strongly with Delta out of Atlanta, and I say if the fare is good, go for it!