AirTran Airways Supports Legislation to Limit Oil Speculation

ORLANDO, Fla., April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI), today made public its support of legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., to limit excessive speculation in the oil markets and put Main Street's interests ahead of Wall Street's.

Several other senators, including Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., have praised the bill as one that would bring strong derivative regulation to an otherwise unchecked market.

Today, Wall Street traders artificially drive up prices of heating oil, gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel through unchecked speculation in ways not associated with regular supply and demand fundamentals in order to reap billions of dollars of financial rewards. These traders have absolutely no plans of ever taking delivery of these products. At the same time, the American consumer is negatively impacted by this unnatural volatility and is forced to pay higher prices for these commodities as well as goods and services in associated industries, including air travel.

Speaking at a Washington D.C. press conference on the issue, AirTran Airways Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Fornaro said, "The rampant and unregulated speculation in this commodity has crippled and handicapped the U.S. airline industry while severely impacting the U.S. consumer. We need to let supply and demand determine what consumers pay, not speculators in an unregulated environment."

One example of the impact of these unnatural forces on the market is the price of crude oil, the industry benchmark for jet fuel. Global demand for oil is down and production is significantly up, yet yesterday the closing price of a barrel of crude oil was $81.45. This is more than 75 percent higher than the price one year ago today.

AirTran Airways urges consumers to support this legislation. For more information on the issue and to contact your legislator, visit: www.stopoilspeculationnow.com.

AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI) and a Fortune 1000 company, has been ranked the number one low cost carrier in the Airline Quality Rating study for the past three years.  AirTran is the only major airline with Gogo Inflight Internet on every flight and offers coast-to-coast service on North America's newest all-Boeing fleet. Our low-cost, high-quality product also includes assigned seating, Business Class and complimentary XM Satellite Radio on every flight. To book a flight, visit www.airtran.com.

SOURCE AirTran Airways