Hampered by unprofitable routes, ATA lost $75 million last year and was in talks with five potential suitors when FedEx, with apparently little explanation, decided to cut off the Indianapolis carrier's only money maker: military charters...Its roots were passenger charters that led the carrier, earlier known as American Trans Air, to branch out into troop charters. ATA operates a $340 million-a-year airborne bus line ferrying troops and their families to and from places where the U.S. military stations troops worldwide.

"I'm just a frustrated parent right now — even though my son might be OK with what's going on right now," William Currao said Monday.

Currao, desperate for a better answer, called U.S. Rep. John Larson and U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd. He even reached out to his old college roommate and Miramax Films co-founder, Harvey Weinstein, who is friends with the Clinton family.

"He's been a great friend and I've never asked him for anything," Currao said. "I just wanted to run this by him. Maybe I can get him to send out his jets over there to get the whole battalion picked up."

The parents of two different Vermont soldiers have contacted our offices to express frustration that their sons are facing delays in coming home. First and foremost they wish to know when their loved one will be returning home, and second, they want answers about how this delay was allowed to happen.

As a result of the troop surge, many of the service-members participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom have had their deployments extended from 12 to 15 months. Ask any of these men and women when they are going home and most can give you a precise day and time.  The same is true of their families who have been eagerly anticipating the return of their loved one. To be told within days of shipping out that your trip home has been delayed until a date uncertain is demoralizing. Unnecessary delays also result in additional troops remaining in a war zone beyond when their presence serves any constructive purpose for the war-fighting effort.

The military airlift business was a steady and lucrative one, transporting military personnel and their families to and from overseas postings. In September, the FedEx team won a $1 billion firm-fixed price contract from the U.S. Transportation Command covering a year’s worth of flying for the entire FedEx team. Apart from FedEx itself and ATA, members include Air Transport International, of Little Rock, Ark.; Purchase, N.Y.-based Atlas Air, Northwest Airlines, Omni Air International, Inc., of Tulsa, Okla., and Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, also based in Purchase.