Exhibit 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 annual report on Form 10-K of ATA Holdings Corp.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this annual 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 annual
report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this annual 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 annual report;

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

          a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, 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 annual report is
     being prepared;

          b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
     and procedures and presented in this annual report our conclusions about
     the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of December
     31, 2004 (the "Evaluation Date"); and

          c) disclosed in this annual report any change in the registrant's
     internal controls that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal
     quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual
     report) that has materially effected, or is reasonably likely to materially
     affect, the registrant's internal controls; and

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 controls, 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
     controls.



Date: March 28, 2005          /s/J. George Mikelsons
                              J. George Mikelson
                              Chairman and Chief Executive Officer