ata was established in february 1973 as ambassadair travel club. its first aircraft was a boeing 720 named "miss indy", with a second boeing 720 ("spirit of indiana") being added in 1978. ata received its common-air carrier certificate in march 1981. operations started as a charter carrier in 1981, with a fleet of eight boeing 707s based in indianapolis, indiana. in 1983, american trans air introduced its first mcdonnell douglas dc-10, a series -10, and was followed in 1984 by another, a long range series -40. amtran, inc. was founded by owner j. george mikelsons in 1984, as the holding company for ambassadair, ata, and any future subsidiaries. the airline replaced the 707s with boeing 727-100 trijets in 1984, and added rolls-royce powered lockheed l-1011 tristar wide body jetliners (most of which were ex-delta air lines and twa) in 1985, and boeing 757-200s in 1989. ata was an all charter airline flying to destinations all over the world. american trans air started its first scheduled service in 1986 between indianapolis, indiana (indianapolis international airport) and fort myers, florida (southwest florida international airport).