Exhibit No. 31.1
                                  Certification
            Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, J. George Mikelsons, certify that:

1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of ATA Holdings Corp.;

2.   Based on my knowledge,  this  quarterly  report does not contain any untrue
     statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to
     make the statements  made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such
     statements  were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
     this quarterly report;

3.   Based on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
     information  included  in this  quarterly  report,  fairly  present  in all
     material respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash
     flows of the  registrant  as of, and for,  the  periods  presented  in this
     quarterly report;

4.   The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer  and  I are  responsible  for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
     in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15e and 15d-15e) for the registrant and we have:

     a)   designed  such  disclosure  controls  and  procedures  to ensure  that
          material  information  relating  to  the  registrant,   including  its
          consolidated subsidiaries,  is made known to us by others within those
          entities,  particularly  during  the  period in which  this  quarterly
          report is being prepared;

     b)   evaluated the  effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure  controls
          and procedures and presented in the report our  conclusions  about the
          effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
          of  the  period  covered  by  this  quarterly  report  based  on  such
          evaluation; and

     c)   disclosed  in this  quarterly  report any  change in the  registrant's
          internal  control over financial  reporting  that occurred  during the
          registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially  affected,
          or  is  reasonably  likely  to  materially  affect,  the  registrant's
          internal control over financial reporting.

5.   The registrant's  other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based on
     our most recent  evaluation,  to the  registrant's  auditors  and the audit
     committee of  registrant's  board of directors (or persons  performing  the
     equivalent functions):

     a)   all significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
          operation  of internal  control  over  financial  reporting  which are
          reasonably  likely to  adversely  affect the  registrant's  ability to
          record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

     b)   any fraud, whether or not material,  that involves management or other
          employees who have a  significant  role in the  registrant's  internal
          control over financial reporting.


Dated:   November 13, 2003             /s/ J. George Mikelsons
                                       -----------------------
                                       J. George Mikelsons
                                       Chairman and Chief Executive Officer