Aloha Airlines/Aloha is Toast [Merged]

According to the morning paper, Aloha is bankrupt again. They claim because of competition from Mesa and Go.

Sterling

If I need to fly from Kona to Maui in June, what is the best one way fare?

We just booked a one-way from LIH Kauai to OGG Maui for $73 on Hawaiian in January, after it went down from $85 a few days ago. Seems like a R/T fare.

Steamboat Bill said:

If I need to fly from Kona to Maui in June, what is the best one way fare?

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If you haven't booked this yet, I would get serious about it. Inter Island flights sell out during high season and prices are not likely to go down.

I almost booked a flight with them a few weeks ago because the price was $119.00 from San Diego,. Glad I didn't.

pcgirl54 said:

I almost booked a flight with them a few weeks ago because the price was $119.00 from San Diego,. Glad I didn't.

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Why? Because they filed chapter 11 again? These days the airlines are in chapter 11 more than they are out of chapter 11.

They are still flying and not likely to stop flying.

-David

Icarus said:

Why? Because they filed chapter 11 again? These days the airlines are in chapter 11 more than they are out of chapter 11.

They are still flying and not likely to stop flying.

-David

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David, I booked inter island flights with them for Sept. If they really do go out of business, would another airline honour the tickets?

Elli said:

David, I booked inter island flights with them for Sept. If they really do go out of business, would another airline honour the tickets?

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First, they aren't likely to go out of business. Chapter 11 is used to protect their assets from creditors and to allow them to re-organize and hopefully emerge from chapter 11 in the future.

Second, if they do, and in the unlikely event that nobody buys their assets and the even more unlikely event that they or other airlines won't honor your tickets, and you paid by credit card, you should be able to get your money back from your credit card company.

Again, all very unlikely at this point. There's no reason not to fly or make reservations for future flights on Aloha Airlines at this point. Just make sure to pay with a credit card.

-David

Aloha Airline - avoid regardless of bankrutcy

After my horrible experience with Aloha and just incredible experience with their customer service, I avoided Aloha at any cost for the past three years.

I also heard from other TUG members of bad experiences.

There are many excuses they can use for having to go into bankruptcy. However, the main reason (IMHO) is bad service, and lack of customer service. That is why it was so easy for any startup airline to eat their lunch. Aloha has been flying from Oakland to Hawaii longer than any other airline, yet other airlines consistently chose Aloha's routes from Oakland to compete against, and know that they can fill up the planes even if they charge higher rates, compared to Aloha that discounts all their seats and still do not fill their plane.
Bottom line is Aloha is a bad airline, and you should not take a chance on them destroying your vacation, especially if you may face cancelations. Last time Aloha went into bankruptcy they canceled almost 50% of their routes.

Good Luck

See this discussion @ flytalk.com http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=803680 Many are unhappy with Aloha but, then, many are unhappy with ALL airlines.

Aloha, Hawaiian and most US airlines scaled back most of their routes after 9/11 when the public, for the most part, stopped traveling. Is that what you are referring to? Other than that, Aloha has not scaled back their schedules.

That situation doesn't exist today, but several large airlines have announced that they intend to cut their domestic flights by around 5% because of the price of fuel.

About Go!, which I assume is the startup you mentioned. Go! is owned by Mesa. I believe their recent loss was announced at $20,000,000.00

Of course, since you posted this on the internet, it must be completely true, right?

-David

If Aloha goes bye bye UA fans will have only Island Air to use for their award flights. http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,51922,00.html#jump4

Hi David - who do you prefer between Aloha and Hawaiian? We always fly Hawaiian and so far have had great service. Does Aloha have the same nice ambiance that HA does? Our HA flights always make me feel like I'm already there!

Thanks!

We used to fly Aloha all the time between the islands but for business reasons about 1 year ago we switched to Hawaiian.

For us, there is no difference between the service.

The main reason for the switch was that Hawaiian has more routes that we personally book such as the HNL-LAS flights and HNL-PHX.

But seeing the news about Aloha makes me glad we switched and now have bulk of our miles with Hawaiian.

Jen

We've tried both Hawaiian and Aloha, and Hawaiian has had by far the better customer service. Last year we used Island Air, and that was indeed an adventure in itself.

Marty

Wow, there is some entertainment on this thread.

Let us start with the facts; fuel cost went from $50 a barrel to over $100 and that cost Aloha over $71 million more in operating cost last year. It also cost the other airlines more money. GO, or Mesa was worth $300 million two years ago and today they are worth around $90 million. If Mesa has to pay Hawaiian the $80 million that the judge told them to, they will be in Chapter 11. Also, the prior owners of Aloha still plan to take Mesa to court in October 2008. Even if Aloha shuts down, there will still be a law suit; that is, if there is any possibility of getting money from it. Bottom line is that Mesa selling tickets at $19, $29 and anything less than $50 caused them to lose money and when Aloha and Hawaiian matched those prices, they lost money too. By the way, Hawaiian also lost big money this year, but their business plan of having 80% ETOPS long range fights and 20% inter-island saved them from major problems. Aloha has 50% ETOPS and 50% inter-island.

The other airline that jbercu talked about out of Oakland is ATA. They are shutting down operations at different airports and may not be around much longer. The reason their flights are full is that they have always been the low cost leader. But, the low cost did not generate profit and they can't continue. Also, I fly the Oakland trips a lot and they are almost always full on Aloha, so his point is worthless.

Ok, I am a pilot for Aloha and trying to be nice about what I am reading above. However, if Aloha shuts down, the price of inter-island flights will go sky high. Another airline (Hawaiian or Mesa or maybe United) will bring in extra service, but don't expect ticket prices to be cheap.

If you already have your timeshare vacation plans for two islands this summer and need tickets for inter-island, Aloha should either have a new investor on April 1, 2008, or they might shut down. There might be a big sale on April 2nd from the new owners of Aloha, or if Aloha shuts down, there might be a shortage of seats to fly inter-island this summer. For all the people that already bought tickets on Aloha for this summer, there is a fund set up to pay Hawaiian or another airline to carry those passengers. However, I don’t know if the seats will be available for everyone that needs them.

Good luck to us all, even the bad airlines.

DeniseM said:

Hi David - who do you prefer between Aloha and Hawaiian?

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I've always flown Aloha Airlines, but Hawaiian has better/newer planes these days. It's been a while since I've taken an interisland flight. I don't know how true it is anymore, but Aloha was always viewed as the locally owned company.

Tom: I didn't know you were a pilot. I hope they survive and come out stronger this time. I think they really need new planes. It looks like they are trying to sell off the airline though.

One thing that's always perplexed me about the fare war with Go! They didn't have that many planes or seats, so I never really understood why HA and AQ matched those fares to the extent that they did. If they were smart, they should have simply not matched them at the ridiculously low price points or just offered a few seats at the ridiculously low fares. $49/$59 per leg, sure, and they should be able to make money on that fare, but not lower than that.

-David

Icarus
We are from the East coast traveling to Hawaii for the first time as a celebration for the end of paying college tuition as our youngest just graduated.

I don't want to have to add to my regular stressload by wondering whether an airline will be in business or if we will have ticket issues for a trip of this magnitude. We chose United which owns 60% or more of the marketshare and Aloha and Hawaiian do not fly from the east coast thus we would have to involve other flight options.

I know airlines enter Chap 11 all the time but peace of mind is more important to me so that is why I am glad we are flying with another carrier as Hawaii newbies.

Good luck to you Tom and all the Aloha employees. This is not an easy time for them.

I Have tickets for July 2008, should I attempt to cancel. Does Travel Insurance cover Airlines going out of Business. From what I have read so far it does not look very good. Thank you

Thanks guys and gals for the kind words and wishing Aloha well.

Years ago, Aloha and Hawaiian tried to ignore another airline when they started service and cut fares. Both companies lost market share and lost money. Mesa was hoping to take away the market share, increase service and bring in more planes. However, their fights ran about 75% full and some months were better than others, but they never increased their service. GO probably would not have continued much longer in Hawaii. Especially if they don't win their appeal with Hawaiian and have to face Aloha in court later in 2008, they would not have been able to stick around. Now, it is hard to say which company will be here at the end of the year. Even the Super Ferry is having a very difficult time doing business here.

If you have tickets on Aloha for this summer, I don't think you can cancel unless you bought the higher fare that allows you to do that. I think that Hawaiian will take those tickets and get you to the other island. However, it might not be the time you wanted to go, but you should be ok.

From what I have read in the news it sounds like the Government is going to really try and keep Aloha in Business. They have been around for 60 years and do 85% of the inter island cargo.

According to their web site press release (3-21), the bankruptcy court has granted them permission to carry on all buisness operation as usual

Icarus said:

First, they aren't likely to go out of business. Chapter 11 is used to protect their assets from creditors and to allow them to re-organize and hopefully emerge from chapter 11 in the future.

Second, if they do, and in the unlikely event that nobody buys their assets and the even more unlikely event that they or other airlines won't honor your tickets, and you paid by credit card, you should be able to get your money back from your credit card company.

Again, all very unlikely at this point. There's no reason not to fly or make reservations for future flights on Aloha Airlines at this point. Just make sure to pay with a credit card. -David

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Thanks, David, yes, I did pay by credit card. They had a seat sale on, and I got a really good fare. We'll hope for the best.

We always fly Aloha from OC to Hawaii and have had nothing but the best customer service from Aloha Airlines. The one time we flew Hawaiian Airlines we actually commented to ourselves how it wasn't as friendly as the Aloha staff was. Once my (then) 2 yr old threw up all over my husband mid-flight and an agent gave him a really nice t-shirt to wear and keep and he wouldn't take $ for it. The absolute worst service I have had on flight has been on US Air from LA to Philadelphia. Talk about cranky, non-friendly, not helpful and downright mean flight attendants! Ok obviously I don't mean all of them are that way but 2 years later I can still picture the 2 flight attendants from hell and I can't think of any employees anywhere that deserved to be fired more than these 2 "ladies" (and I use the term loosely here...there's a better name for them and it starts with a "B"). But back to my complements to Aloha - we love flying Aloha and we hope everything works out for that airline. It is our favorite airline, and not just cuz it takes us to Hawaii!

May 23,trip to Maui

After reading this topic of which I have not heard about on the news I did some calls.

I called II travel and they looked into it and told me not worry about our plans because we would get switched to another airlines if needed.

I called and talk to a very nice lady with Aloha airlines and she felt I did not need to worry because they were staying open and even if something did happen they would have to get us on another flight.

She said that the State of Hawaii was working with them because they do not want them to go under because Aloha does much of the local flights there also.

The only question I worried about was it is nice that they will book us on another airline but what happens if all those flights are full.

I know we booked couple months ago and our flight went up in price since then and is full or close to it. I would think most airlines are also booked out or close!

Some people have knocked Aloha but we have flown twice with them over the years and the employee's are the nicest people and do try and take care of the passagers!