J. George Mikelsons

J. George Mikelsons
Receiving the Tony Jannus Award in 1996
Born	1938 Riga, Latvia
Occupation	Founder, ATA Airlines
Spouse(s)	Muriel Mikelsons

Juris George Mikelsons (Latvian: Georgs Juris Miķelsons) is a former airline executive and airline pilot in the United States and the founder of ATA Airlines. He was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1938 on the eve of World War II. His family fled to Germany during the mid-1940s to escape the Soviet occupation of his native land.

As a child, Mikelsons would peer out of bomb shelters to catch any glimpse he could of the planes being flown in the skies. This was the birth of his passion in life, which was to fly planes. His family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, during the 1950s where his father was offered a job as a violinist for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Mikelsons finally began pursuing his passion when he saw a sign offering flights for under $10. It was then that he flew for the first time. This flight sparked his desire to enter the aviation industry. He immediately began flying lessons and became chief pilot and director of the Voyager 1000 travel club.

In 1973, Mikelsons started his own travel club, Ambassadair, taking a loan and mortgaging his home to purchase a Boeing 720, which he titled "Miss Indy". Ambassadair was a charter-based airline which provided cheap vacation fares. Mikelsons and an employee piloted the plane, loaded the luggage, cleaned the cabin, and served as the tour guide. His hard work and determination allowed him to purchase additional planes for his charter-based airline service. In 1984, after the deregulation of the Airline industry, Mikelsons formed Amtran, Inc., the former parent company of American Trans Air, which later became ATA Airlines, headquartered near Indianapolis International Airport. He also formed ATA Leisure Corp., Amber Travel, ATA Training Corp., ATA Cargo, and ExecuJet.