INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A federal bankruptcy judge on Monday approved the sale of ATA Holdings Corp.'s Chicago Express commuter airline to an Indianapolis real estate investment and management firm.
Okun Enterprises Inc. had the winning bid at the auction of the regional airline Thursday, three days after ATA ended Chicago Express operations. Executive Edward Okun also agreed to purchase two of ATA's planes.
Okun will pay between $3 million and $4 million for Chicago Express' assets and $2.44 million for two 34-seat Saab 340 turboprop aircraft.
The sale was subject to regulatory approval and was scheduled to close by May 4.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Basil Lorch III approved the Chicago Express auction as part of ATA's Chapter 11 reorganization last month after rebuffing a $100,000 offer from Boston investor Jack E. Robinson's NatTel LLC.
ATA would likely have liquidated Chicago Express if no bids of more than $1 million had been received.
Indianapolis-based ATA Holdings Corp., the operator of ATA Airlines, bought Chicago Express for $1.9 million in 1999.
ATA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October and since then has been restructuring its operations, liquidating assets and negotiating wage concessions with employees.
Okun's company owns malls, offices and warehouses nationwide. It also will sponsor driver Adrian Fernandez's car in this year's Indianapolis 500.
