ATA Airlines has discontinued all flights and filed for bankruptcy, stranding passengers, many of whom learned of the collapse at ticket counters, where advisories were posted in the handful of cities ATA still served. About 10,000 passengers flew ATA each day when operations were shut down, according to the airline.

Airline Shutdown Strands Paid Passengers

The Indianapolis-based airline said in a statement on its Web site Thursday that the airline can't provide refunds to customers who purchased tickets directly from ATA with cash or a check. Customers may be able to obtain a full or partial refund for their unused tickets by submitting a claim in ATA’s Chapter 11 proceedings.

The statement said that it became impossible to continue operations after it lost a key contract for its military charter business.

"Unfortunately, we were not in a position to provide our customers or others with advance notice," the statement said. "We apologize for the disruption caused by the sudden shutdown of ATA and regret the impact on passengers, employees, suppliers, and other parties. ATA customers should seek alternative arrangements for current and future travel."

ATA announced last month that it would leave its hub at Chicago's Midway Airport. The airline had flights from Midway to Dallas/Fort Worth and Oakland, Calif. It also had flights to Hawaii from Oakland, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The company had more than 2,200 employees, and "virtually all" were told that their jobs were gone, company spokesman Michael Freitag said.

Additional Resource:

• Visa Inc. Statement Regarding ATA Airlines