Collective Bargaining Agreement

Crewmember Strike at Polar Air Cargo, Inc.
Not Expected to Affect Most AAWW
Operations

Purchase, N.Y., September 16, 2005 – Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (AAWW) (OTC: AAWW.PK) announced today that its negotiations with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement covering the Crewmembers employed by its subsidiary Polar Air Cargo, Inc. (Polar) have been unsuccessful, and that ALPA has elected to call a strike at Polar.

“While we regret the Polar Crewmembers’ decision to strike,” said Jeffrey H. Erickson, President and Chief Executive Officer of AAWW, “we have prepared for this contingency. Consistent with our strategic initiatives to place our aircraft where they are most profitable, we have returned three aircraft on dry lease to Polar back to Atlas Air, Inc. We have also placed two Polar aircraft for sale or lease, and are in the process of placing the remaining seven aircraft in other uses, including dry leases. As a result, only seven of the Compa