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Aloha Airlines

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox airline Aloha Airlines was an airline in the United States that operated passenger flights from 1946 until 2008.<ref name=path>Template:Cite news</ref> It was headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> operating from its hub at Honolulu International Airport (now Daniel K. Inouye International Airport).

HistoryEdit

Propeller eraEdit

The airline was founded as charter carrier Trans-Pacific Airlines by publisher Ruddy F. Tongg Sr. as a competitor to Hawaiian Airlines, commencing operations on July 26, 1946, with a war-surplus Douglas C-47 (DC-3) on a flight from Honolulu to Maui and Hilo.<ref name=prejudice>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=appeal>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=business>Template:Cite news</ref> Tongg and partners founded the airline after being bumped from flights on the only inter-island carrier, Hawaiian Airlines.<ref name=prejudice/> The company employed local Island residents and its first slogan was "The People's Airline.<ref name=prejudice/> It soon earned the nickname "The Aloha Airline".<ref name=business/> Approval to operate as a scheduled airline came when President Harry S. Truman signed the certificate on February 21, 1949, with the first scheduled flight on June 6, 1949, following ceremonies held the previous day.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1952, the airline reported its first annual profit, approximately $36,000.<ref name=50th>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1950, the airline adopted the name TPA-The Aloha Airline. To compete, Hawaiian Airlines began using the Convair 340.<ref name=wars>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1958, real estate developer Hung Wo Ching, became CEO of the airline and changed the name to Aloha Airlines.<ref name=appeal/><ref name=wars/> In 1959, Aloha began using Fairchild F-27 turboprops.<ref name=path/> Also in 1959, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.<ref name=50th/>

Jet engine eraEdit

File:BAC 1-11 215AU N11183 Aloha LBG 03.06.67 edited-2.jpg
Aloha BAC 1-11 in 1967
File:Aloha Airlines Boeing 737-200 Silagi-1.jpg
Aloha Boeing 737-200 at Honolulu in May 1981
File:Aloha Pacific McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 Groves.jpg
Aloha Pacific DC-10-30 at Taipei Airport in July 1984
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A former Aloha Boeing 737-700WL in storage in Southend Airport, England, after the airline's 2008 demise

Aloha retired its last DC-3 on January 3, 1961, becoming the second airline in the United States to operate an all-turbine fleet. In 1963, the airline took delivery of two Vickers Viscounts from Austrian Airlines and soon acquired a third from Northeast Airlines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The October 1, 1964, cover of the airline's system timetable proclaimed "Hawaii's Only All Jet Power Service Between The Islands" as Aloha was operating all of its inter-island flights at this time with the Fairchild F-27 and Vickers Viscount turboprops.<ref>timetableimages.com, Oct. 1, 1964 Aloha Airlines system timetable</ref> Soon, the airline made the move to pure jets, with its first new British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twin jet arriving in Honolulu on April 16, 1966. The last F-27 was retired from service in June 1967. As Hawaiian Airlines took delivery of larger Douglas DC-9-30 jets, Aloha realized its smaller BAC One-Eleven series 200 aircraft, which also suffered from performance penalties at Kona International Airport (which had a shorter runway at the time), put it at a disadvantage. Aloha placed an order for two Boeing 737-200 jetliners in 1968. Named "Funbirds," the Boeing jets entered service in March 1969. The massive capacity increase hurt both airlines, and in 1970, the first of three unsuccessful merger attempts between the two rivals (the others coming in 1988 and 2001) was made. In October 1971, the airline sold its remaining Viscount 745 turboprop aircraft and became an all-jet airline.Template:Citation needed

In 1983, Aloha introduced its AlohaPass frequent flyer program.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1984, the airline leased a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, and on May 28, inaugurated service with the aircraft between Honolulu, Guam, and Taipei under the name Aloha Pacific. The operation, however, was unable to compete with Continental Airlines, and was discontinued on January 12, 1985. In October 1985, Aloha acquired Quick-Change 737 aircraft that could be quickly converted from a passenger configuration to all-cargo freighter for nighttime cargo flights. In February 1986, Aloha began weekly flights between Honolulu and Kiritimati (Christmas Island), becoming the first airline to operate ETOPS approved Boeing 737-200s.

In late 1986, Ching and vice-chairman Sheridan Ing announced plans to take the company private after surviving hostile takeover bids,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and it remained in the hands of the Ing and Ching families until its emergence from bankruptcy in 2006, when additional investors including Yucaipa Companies, Aloha Aviation Investment Group, and Aloha Hawaii Investors LLC took stakes in the airline. In 1987, the airline acquired Princeville Airways, renaming Aloha IslandAir, which became known as Island Air in 1995. In 2003, Island Air was sold to Gavarnie Holding and became an independent airline.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On February 14, 2000, the airline began mainland service, flying newly delivered ETOPS certified Boeing 737-700 jetliners from Honolulu, Kahului, and Kona, Hawaii, to Oakland. The carrier soon started regularly scheduled flights to and from Orange County, San Diego, Sacramento, Reno, and Las Vegas. Aloha also offered flights from Honolulu to Vancouver. In addition, the airline served the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport (BUR, now known as Bob Hope Airport) in the Los Angeles area with nonstop Boeing 737-700 service to and from Honolulu.

Aloha Airline's longest inter-island route was Template:Convert, while the shortest route was a mere Template:Convert. The average travel distance per inter-island flight was Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From late-1989 through mid-2006, Aloha marketed some inter-island routes served by partner Island Air, and passengers earned miles in either its own frequent flyer program, AlohaPass, or in United Airlines' Mileage Plus program.<ref name="routemap">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="codeshare">Codeshare partners Template:Webarchive</ref>

Economic challengesEdit

Rising costs and economic stagnation in Japan put Aloha into a defensive position in the early 2000s, exacerbated by the September 11 attacks, the SARS panic of 2003, and soaring fuel prices. On December 30, 2004, Aloha Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Led by Marc Bilbao and six other Giuliani advisors in December 2004, Giuliani Partners through Giuliani Capital sold Aloha to Ronald Burkle's group of investors and also obtained a $65 million loan for the carrier.<ref name=Keeps>Template:Cite news</ref> In November 2005, Giuliani renegotiated with Aloha Chief David Banmiller for Giuliani's total compensation to be increased to $2.9 million.<ref name=Keeps/> Following approval of new labor contracts and securing additional investment from new investors, the airline emerged from bankruptcy protection on February 17, 2006. On August 30, 2006, Gordon Bethune was named chairman.

Citing losses from a protracted fare war incited by inter-island competitor go! (operated by parent company Mesa Airlines) and high fuel prices, Aloha filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection again on March 20, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ten days later, on March 30, 2008, Aloha Airlines announced the suspension of all scheduled passenger flights, with the final day of operation to be March 31, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The shutdown resulted in the layoffs of about 1,900 of the company's roughly 3,500 employees.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Governor of Hawaii Linda Lingle asked the bankruptcy court involved to delay the shutdown of Aloha Airlines passenger services, and forcibly restore passenger service;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> however, federal Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King declined, saying the court should not interfere with business decisions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After the shutdown of passenger operations, Aloha and its creditors represented by Fieldstone Aviation LLC sought to auction its profitable cargo and contract services division. Fieldstone arranged for Pacific Air Cargo to acquire the contract services ground handling division in 2008 for $2.2 million and it now operates it under the name Aloha Contract Services.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Fieldstone Aviation LLC represented Aloha in the sale of the Aloha cargo division and solicited interest from potential buyers. Several companies expressed interest in purchasing Aloha's cargo division, including Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources, California-based Castle & Cooke Aviation, and Hawaii-based Kahala Capital (which included Richard Ing, a minority investor in the Aloha Air Group and member of Aloha's board of directors).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, a disagreement between cargo division bidders and Aloha's primary lender, GMAC Commercial Finance, ended with the bidders dropping out of the auction.<ref name="biddersdropout">Template:Cite news</ref> Almost immediately afterwards, GMAC halted all funding to Aloha's cargo division, forcing all cargo operations to cease; at the same time, Aloha's board of directors decided to convert its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filing into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.<ref name="biddersdropout"/>

Saltchuk decided to renew its bid to purchase the cargo division at the urging of U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, and a deal between Aloha and Saltchuk was struck and approved by the federal bankruptcy court, where Saltchuk would purchase the cargo division for $10.5 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The sale arranged by Fieldstone Aviation LLC was approved by federal Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King on May 12, 2008, with the sale expected to close two days later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Prior to its bid for Aloha, Saltchuk Resources was already present in Hawaii through its subsidiaries Young Brothers/Hawaiian Tug & Barge, Hawaii Fuel Network, Maui Petroleum and Minit Stop Stores. The company also owns Northern Air Cargo, Alaska's largest cargo airline. A new subsidiary, Aeko Kula Inc., was set up by Saltchuk to operate Aloha Air Cargo.

Name and intellectual propertyEdit

In January 2011, Los Angeles-based Yucaipa Companies, the former majority shareholder of Aloha, won federal Bankruptcy Court approval to buy the Aloha name and other intellectual property for $1.5 million with a stipulation that it not resell the name to Mesa Air Group, the parent of go! Mokulele.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2009, Mesa sought to re-brand its go! planes as Aloha. But federal Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King stopped the name change, following impassioned pleas from former Aloha Airlines employees who largely blamed Mesa for Aloha's demise.

DestinationsEdit

File:Aloha 732.jpg
Boeing 737-200

Prior to the shutdown of its passenger services on March 31, 2008, Aloha Airlines provided passenger service to/from the following destinations:

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Midway Atoll

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Codeshare agreementsEdit

Aloha Airlines had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

FleetEdit

Final fleetEdit

At the time the Aloha airlines ceased operations, the airline's fleet was an all-737 fleet:

Aloha Airlines fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers Routes Notes
F Y Total
Boeing 737-200 13 — 127 127 Hawaii Inter-Island
Boeing 737-700 8 12 112 124 US Mainland
Boeing 737-800 1 12 150 162 US Mainland
(primarily Kahului-Sacramento) 		Leased from Transavia<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Total 22

Fleet developmentEdit

As of March 2008, the average age of the Aloha Airlines fleet was 18.2 years.Template:Citation needed

Previously operated aircraft typesEdit

Other jet aircraft previously operated by Aloha included the Boeing 737-300 and 737-400.<ref>http://www.airliners.net, Aloha Airlines Boeing 737-300 and 737-400 photos in Hawaii</ref> According to various Aloha Airlines flight schedules which appeared in the Official Airline Guide (OAG), these aircraft were used for a short period of time on inter-island flights in Hawaii. Two Boeing 737-100 aircraft were also used briefly during the mid seventies time frame.

The airline previously operated Douglas C-47 prop aircraft followed by Fairchild F-27 and Vickers Viscount turboprop airliners. The first jet type operated by Aloha was the British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven. Aloha subsidiary Aloha Pacific operated the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 wide body jetliner.

Retired fleet prior to ceasing operationsEdit

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Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
BAC One-Eleven Series 200AU 3 1966 1969 Transferred to Mohawk Airlines
Boeing 737-100 2 1973 1978 Transferred to Air California
Boeing 737-3T0 3 1988 1993
Boeing 737-300QC 2 1997 1997 Transferred to America West Airlines
Boeing 737-400 2 1992 1996
Douglas C-47 Skytrain 9 1946 1965
Fairchild F-27 6 1959 1967
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 1 1984 1985 Leased from Continental Airlines
Vickers Viscount 745D 4 1963 1971

Accidents and incidentsEdit

File:Aloha Airlines Flight 243 fuselage.png
The fuselage of Aloha Airlines Flight 243 after suffering explosive decompression over Hawaii

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|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The safe landing of the aircraft with such a major loss of integrity was unprecedented. Subsequent investigations concluded that the accident was caused by metal fatigue. The 1990 made-for-television film Miracle Landing is based on this accident.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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