Don't you think you are being a little rough, dbaker?
An infinitely small number that is ten times another infinitely small number is still an infinitely small number.
Plus, the Airtran fleet has been heavily switched from ancient DC-9s to modern 717s in the last two years. The 717 is an excellent, safe aircraft.
The management of Airtran is different than the management of Valujet. The new management promised to put safety first and seems to have delivered on their promise based on the record of the past few years.
Plus, the one Valujet fatal incident was largely caused by the actions of a contractor not directly related to the airline.
The three time I have flown Airtran, I was impressed.
With respect to America West, do they still have the 20,000 award. I thought they increased the minimum to 25,000?