Aloha to Aloha in Sacramento

3/31/08-SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Aloha Airlines said it will cease all passenger service, including flights to and from Sacramento.

The airline is throwing in the towel, a victim of stiff competition and rising fuel prices.

Flights left the mainland for the islands on Monday, but no flights were traveling from Hawaii to the mainland.

Two flights scheduled to come from Hawaii to Sacramento were cancelled. Travelers seeking to get home from Hawaii are being asked to call United.

For customers flying on a United Airlines ticket, United will rebook them on an alternate flight, where space is available, at no additional charge.

United is offering discounted one-way fares through April for customers traveling on an Aloha ticket. The carrier will also refund frequent flier miles at no charge if customers have an award ticket on Aloha Airlines.

The last Aloha flight from Sacramento departed shortly before noon.

Aloha filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 20.

Aloha President David Banmiller said the airline "simply ran out of time to find a qualified buyer or secure continued financing for our passenger business."

Aloha has suffered since Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group launched a new inter-island carrier called go! airlines in 2006, triggering a local airfare war.

Banmiller said Aloha was a victim of "unfair competition."

The airline served Hawaii for more than 60 years.

That's a shame I haven't flown them in years but for a while they really captured the essence with the attendants in muu muus, the Kona coffee, the slide guitar Hawaiian music on the intercom and the great graphics on the planes, even the seats were upholstered in a similar flower motif.

My friends flew out to Kauai on Sunday morning, shortly before Aloha announced that they wouldn't be bringing them back. (Certainly not a bad place to be stranded, but unfortunately they have jobs they have to come back to. Hopefully they aren't spending their entire Vacation trying to figure out how to get home.)

I flew on them a bunch in the past. It's weird to think they won't be there anymore after all those years - 1946! Sounds like it would've been a quite a trip back then.

I came across this story online. It is sad that they're gone.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-03-31-aloha-history_N.htm

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.

On 2008-04-01 21:00, bamalamalu wrote:
My friends flew out to Kauai on Sunday morning, shortly before Aloha announced that they wouldn't be bringing them back. (Certainly not a bad place to be stranded, but unfortunately they have jobs they have to come back to. Hopefully they aren't spending their entire Vacation trying to figure out how to get home.

Hawaiian Airlines is scrambling to help get Aloha customers back to the mainland and are coordinating extra flights to help. Information is available on their website. Hope everything works out for them. http://www.hawaiianair.com/Pages/Index.aspx

ALOHA OE
July 26, 1946 - March 31, 2008

I loved the fact that they flew from OC to Lihue direct. and even though the flight was long on those old 737-200's it was way better than huffing over to the interisland terminal on Oahu and getting another plane. Aloha 2 Aloha and my frequent flyer miles as well.

It's inevitable....

Closed Airlines Mean Higher Hawaii Fares
By ADAM SCHRECK, AP

The abrupt shutdowns of ATA Airlines and Aloha Airlines won't keep travelers off Hawaii's shores altogether, but they could make an already expensive vacation destination even pricier and potentially put the leis and luaus out of reach for many.

Flights to and from Hawaii had been a key part of ATA's business ever since the Indianapolis-based carrier scaled back its route network following a previous trip through bankruptcy in 2006.

On Thursday, the airline suddenly quit flying, leaving passengers on the islands and elsewhere stranded as it again headed for bankruptcy court. Virtually all the carrier's more than 2,200 employees were laid off.

"It'll hurt," said Minneapolis-based airline expert Terry Trippler. "They did a lot of business to and from Hawaii at fairly reasonable prices."

The surprise announcement came just two weeks after Aloha filed for bankruptcy protection following years of losses. The airline, which served the state for more than 60 years and was the islands' second-largest carrier, ended passenger service Monday and is hoping to offload its cargo business this month. It flew both inter-island routes and flights to the mainland.

The one-two punch, coming at a time when the airline industry is already straining under rapidly rising fuel prices, will likely prompt remaining carriers to push their fares even higher, industry observers said.

"They've really been thrown a curve ball. Nobody really expected two major competitors to go away," said Robert Mann, an independent airline analyst in Port Washington, N.Y. "When you pull out a major carrier, it's going to create a lot of demand on the remaining carriers."

Hawaiian Airlines, the state's biggest airline, could emerge as the biggest winner following its rivals' collapse. The carrier flies to nine cities on the mainland -- more than any other airline -- including all four markets where ATA operated. It also controls a hefty share of inter-island traffic.

A number of other domestic carriers also fly to the islands, and each will likely see additional traffic flowing their way now that two rivals are out of the picture.

Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines competed against ATA on direct flights from Los Angeles, for example, while US Airways challenged the carrier in Phoenix. Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines all also fly from multiple mainland destinations.

"It helps all the carriers who fly from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii," Avondale Partners airline analyst Bob McAdoo said. "There'll be less seats offered at really deep discounts."

Flights between the islands could also grow more expensive.

Hawaiian and Mesa Air Group, the parent company of inter-island carrier go!, have each recently announced plans to add spare planes and flights on routes within Hawaii to help make up for the loss of Aloha service.

Even so, experts doubt fares that have fallen as low as $49 or less one-way are sustainable over the long term.

"It's an unrealistically low price," Mann said.

Time to invest in Humidifiers!!

Or a landscaper who can create Hawaii in your backyard. Perhaps that would be me.

Hey There Jungle Trader, we were just at Duane's home and saw the Mainlander fountain that you carved for him, why don't you share a photo here. Hawaii in the backyard is a great idea. I bet you have it with your talent.

http://montaj9.com/WithoutAloha60R2.mov

This is a bummer, and a big blow to Hawaii. makes me feel really guilty for flying GO! interisland because they were so cheap.
It was GO!'s rediculously low prices that contributed heavily to Aloha going under. 60 years of serving Hawaii, done. Sad.