Post #370906 by Koolau on Wed, Apr 2, 2008 12:23 AM

Naugatiki - Aloha only had one or two "retro jets" painted in that '70s livery - that's not their normal color scheme.

Damn shame Aloha's gone - their employees were always friendly and their website was way better than Hawaiian's. But it's not a surprise; they were always a cash poor, boot-strap operation. Look at that photo above - that's a 200 series 737, probably 30 years or more old, with ancient low bypass, high noise engines. I remember one time rolling to a stop at the gate in Maui, and saw smoke billowing out of one engine like it was an old beater car at a stop light. I guess it was normal, as no one reacted to the smoke, but it was quite disturbing.

They also flew 737s to the mainland - that's way too small a plane for a 5 1/2 hour flight. The story was they couldn't make it back from John Wayne (Orange County) with a full load if there were strong headwinds, so they would sometimes have to leave cargo and luggage behind. Not a good plan for long-term success.

Mesa airlines, in the form of go! airlines, came in here two years ago with the goal of killing off Aloha, and now they've succeeded. Inter-island air fares are likely to go up to $150 or so each way. And we get that excellent Mesa service. A couple of months ago, two go! pilots fell asleep (allegedly) in the cockpit and flew 20 miles out to sea past Hilo before someone was able to wake them up. I guess that's what you have to expect with a $19 airfare.

Anyway, Aloha Aloha, despite your short-comings, you'll be missed.