ValuJet Airlines

ValuJet Airlines was an ultra low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1992 to 1997 when it was rebranded as AirTran Airlines after joining forces with AirTran Airways. It was headquartered in unincorporated Clayton County, Georgia, that operated regularly scheduled domestic and international flights in the Eastern United States and Canada during the 1990s. The company was founded in 1992 and was notorious for its sometimes dangerous cost-cutting measures. All of the airline's planes were purchased used from other airlines; very little training was provided to workers; and contractors were used for maintenance and other services. The company quickly developed a reputation for safety issues. In 1995, the military refused ValuJet's bid to fly military personnel over safety worries, and officials at the FAA wanted the airline to be grounded.

The crash of Flight 592 in 1996, which was caused by illegally stored hazardous materials on board, spelled doom for the airline. ValuJet was grounded the next month and not allowed to fly again until September of that same year, with a greatly reduced fleet. The airline's major customers never returned, and the company suffered major losses.

In 1997, ValuJet purchased the much smaller AirTran Airways. Although ValuJet was the nominal survivor, executives believed that a new name was important to regain passenger traffic, so the merged company adopted the AirTran name. After the merger, AirTran made little mention of its past as ValuJet. AirTran was purchased by Southwest Airlines in 2011 and ended flights in 2014.