Shareholders in AirTran Airways have voted in favour of a merger with Southwest Airlines in a deal worth $1.4 billion. More than 98 per cent of the votes cast and 77.5 percent of shares outstanding voted in favour of the transaction.

AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. announced today that Stephen J. Kolski, 70, AirTran Airways’ executive vice president of corporate affairs, will retire from the company as planned on April 29, 2011.

United States carrier Southwest Airlines has moved to acquire smaller rival AirTran in a deal worth approximately $1.4 billion. The merger will allow the low-cost carrier to expand eastward, with Atlanta and markets on the east coast – including Boston, New York, Baltimore and Washington – also vital to the success of the deal.

AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:  AAI), today dispatched its first flight from its new, state-of-the-art System Operations Control Center (S.O.C.) in Orlando.

Following a steady increase in global market share last year, tourism chiefs in Jamaica are expecting the trend to continue into 2010. AirTran has also fostered optimism on the island, launching a series of new departures to the Caribbean holiday destination.

AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:  AAI), today launched nonstop service from Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky., to both Orlando International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.