Mainland friends are surprised to learn I have never flown on Southwest Airlines. I probably never will, even though they’re planning to start service between the mainland and Hawaii sometime next year. I do have my reasons. First, as a practical matter, I’ve been part of the American Airlines AAdvantage program for 25 years…
For years and years, two stalwart, reliable airlines carried us local folks back and forth among our lovely islands: Hawaiian Airlines, the country’s 11th largest, which has been operating since 1929, and Aloha Airlines, founded in 1947. In recent years, both airlines began serving a number of west coast cities. That all changed last March,…
Last week I posted an item about Aloha Airlines shutting down after 61 years of service here. Two days later, a second shock: ATA Airlines abruptly ceased operations. Aloha was predominantly an inter-island carrier, but did operate a couple of daily flights to the west coast. ATA had 12 daily flights between Hawaii and Los…
In fact, it’s heartbreaking. After more than 60 years of providing air service among these islands and more recently to the U.S. mainland, Aloha Airlines will shut down. It’s a long, sad story, but the short version is that a corporate raider, Mesa Air from Phoenix, Arizona, deliberately and unfairly drove Aloha out of business….