Aloha stops flying: 61 years come to an end March 31

Nick

Nick

Well-Known Member
Aloha Airlines to shut down passenger operations after March 31, 2008, ending a 61-year tradition of service to Hawaii

HONOLULU – Aloha Airlines announced today that it will be shutting down its inter-island and transpacific passenger flight operations. Aloha’s last day of operations will be Monday, March 31, 2008. On that day, Aloha will operate its schedule with the exception of flights from Hawaii to the West Coast and flights from Orange County to Reno and Sacramento, and Oakland to Las Vegas. Code-share partner United Airlines and other airlines are prepared to assist and accommodate Aloha’s passengers who have been inconvenienced.

For more information on United’s accommodation options, contact United at 1-800-UNITED1 or www.united.com. Passengers who do not wish to be re-accommodated by another airline should contact their travel agent or credit card company to request a refund. Effective immediately, Aloha will stop selling tickets for travel beyond March 31, 2008.

The shutdown of Aloha’s passenger operations will affect about 1,900 employees. Aloha also announced that its air cargo and aviation services units will continue to operate as usual while the U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeks bids from potential buyers. On March 27, 2008, Saltchuk Resources, Inc., announced its intention to buy Aloha’s air cargo business.

“This is an incredibly dark day for Hawaii,” said David A. Banmiller, Aloha’s president and chief executive officer. “Despite the groundswell of support from the community and our elected officials, we simply ran out of time to find a qualified buyer or secure continued financing for our passenger business. We had no choice but to take this action.

“We deeply regret the impact this will have on our dedicated employees who have made Aloha one of the best operating airlines in the country. “Aloha Airlines was founded in 1946 to give Hawaii’s people a choice in inter-island air transportation.

Unfortunately, unfair competition has succeeded in driving us out of business, bringing to an end a 61-year-old company with a proud legacy of serving millions of travelers in the true spirit of Aloha. ”We realize that this comes as a devastating disappointment to our frequent flyers and our loyal business partners who have supported this company for many, many years.”


http://www.alohaairlines.com/landing_pages/aloha_oe_news_release.php
 
Mesa is the spoiler but shame on those politicians and locals that allowed it to happen. Everyone that bought into this sham shares responsibility. Mesa has no ties to Hawaii and will have no problem dropping Hawaii like a hot potato the second they can use those resources elsewhere to make a buck or drive someone else out of business. Sad, very sad...
 
I feel for all those that are losing their jobs after tomorrow. Best of luck to all those affected in their job search.

I took Aloha a couple of years back on a side trip to Maui. Aloha and Hawaiian were the same price and I wanted to fly on an old 737-200. Awesome people, awesome airplane, awesome airline. You'll be missed.
 
Fred the Barber said:
Mesa is the spoiler but shame on those politicians and locals that allowed it to happen. Everyone that bought into this sham shares responsibility. Mesa has no ties to Hawaii and will have no problem dropping Hawaii like a hot potato the second they can use those resources elsewhere to make a buck or drive someone else out of business. Sad, very sad...
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Not to argue, but can you really blame the consumers here? Or the government for that matter? As essential as they may have been something else came along for a better value... or at least for less and If you ever lived in Hawaii money doesn't go too far there. I'm sure the only thing they know about Mesa is that they cost less and I expect they have little interest in the interworkings of the airline industry nor should they.
 
I'd assume more of this to come with "Open Skies". Lots of destruction on the way to building a new way of doing business.
 
Low_Level_Hell said:
Not to argue, but can you really blame the consumers here? Or the government for that matter? As essential as they may have been something else came along for a better value... or at least for less and If you ever lived in Hawaii money doesn't go too far there. I'm sure the only thing they know about Mesa is that they cost less and I expect they have little interest in the interworkings of the airline industry nor should they.
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I'm not a lawyer nor did I stay at Holiday Inn Express last night, but if the situation was as grave as it seemed to be, any reasonable judge could have issued a cease and desist to suspend business of go! until it was proven that they hadn't stolen proprietary business information from Aloha and Hawaiian. It is unlikely that would ever have happen but if it was shown that go! was operating in such a way that would destroy Aloha and it was all on the info Aloha provided it may have happened.

What's left now is one of the two homegrown Hawaiian airlines is gone and Mesa is left. It is a crime and based on the outrageous regulations that airlines are held to in federal regulation there sometimes should be some intervention to ward off predatory practices that exist in other businesses.

What a tragedy.
 
Let the auction begin! The part that sucks is the planes and routes will go to the highest bidder and the employees will be looking for work.

This is exactly why ALPA pilots should INSIST that Aloha pilots and pilots in their situations get preferential hiring consideration.
 
Amen to that! The problem right now is that virtually no one is hiring. The Aloha guys are being dumped on the street just as the hiring is slowing down at all the major carriers.
 
This is exactly one way ALPA could function as a real Union. If you wanted to hire a pilot, you'd go down to the ALPA Union Hall and interview the most senior guys available who were either out of work or expressed a desire to change airlines.
 
Velocipede said:
This is exactly why ALPA pilots should INSIST that Aloha pilots and pilots in their situations get preferential hiring consideration.
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I wonder what ALPA carriers are hiring? But that would be a fantastic idea.

I wonder what JC Lawson's take on this would be, however... :sarcasm:
 
Growing up in Hawaii, I often flew Aloha airlines. This local carrier has been around so long and is a true 'kama'aiana' company. If you've never taken a flight on Aloha airlines, you've surely missed the "Aloha" spirit that our 50th state is known for. It is a true tragedy when a honest-run, quality-based, airline with such high on-time performance is put out. Everyone here in Hawaii will lose because of this. EVERYONE. :(
 
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