is an
Airline headquartered in
Honolulu ,
Hawaii USA . It operates extensive scheduled services within the
Hawaiian Islands , and between Hawaii and the
West Coast Of The United States . Its main base is
Honolulu International Airport . Aloha also markets some interisland routes served by partner
Island Air , and its
Frequent Flyer Program , AlohaPass, is a partner of
United Airlines ' Mileage Plus program.
Aloha is a
Hawaiian word expressing affection or love, commonly used as a greeting.
The airline was founded as charter carrier Trans Pacific Airlines by publisher Ruddy Tongg as a competitor to Hawaiian Airlines, commencing operations on
Aloha Friday ,
July 26 ,
1946 . It soon earned the nickname "The Aloha Airline." Certification as a scheduled airline came on
June 6 ,
1949 .
In
1958 , real estate developer Hung Wo Ching purchased a stake in the carrier, renaming it Aloha Airlines. In
1987 he took the company private, and it remained in the hands of the Ing and Ching families until its emergence from bankruptcy in
2006 , when additional investors including The Yucaipa Cos., Aloha Aviation Investment Group, and Aloha Hawaii Investors LLC took stakes in the airline.
Aloha began operating
Jet Aircraft in
1969 . It introduced its frequent flyer program, AlohaPass, in
1983 . Night time freighter services started in October
1985 and transpacific services began in February
2000 .
Rising costs (in particular, poorly negotiated aircraft leases), and an
Economic Recession in
Japan put Aloha into a defensive position in the early
2000s , soon exacerbated by the
September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks , the
SARS panic of
2003 , and soaring fuel prices. On
December 30 ,
2004 , Aloha Airlines filed for
Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in an attempt to cut costs and remain competitive with other airlines serving Hawaii. Following approval of new labor contracts and securing additional investment by new investors, the airline emerged from bankruptcy protection on
February 17 ,
2006 .
Mergers with archrival Hawaiian Airlines have been attempted at least three times, in
1970 ,
1988 , and
2001 , none successfully.
On
April 28 ,
1988 ,
Aloha Airlines Flight 243 Boeing 737 (N73711) interisland flight from
Hilo Airport to
Honolulu International Airport carrying 89 passengers and 6 crew members experienced rapid decompression when an 18 feet section of the fuselage roof and sides were torn from the airplane. One
Flight Attendant was forced out of the airplane from the pressure difference and is presumed dead. Several passengers sustained life-threatening injuries including instances of massive head wounds. The aircraft declared an emergency and landed at
Kahului Airport on
Maui with slight difficulty. Noise created by the rush of air rendered vocal communication useless and the crew had to use hand signals during landing.
Investigations of the disaster concluded that the accident was caused by
Metal Fatigue . The disaster caused almost all major United States air carriers to retire their oldest airplane models.
The event was dramatised as a television movie titled ''
Miracle Landing '' starring
Connie Sellecca and
Wayne Rogers . The incident is also the focus of an episode of the series Air Crash Investigation, shown on the National Geographic Channel.
The airline rates an "A" safety rating, the highest grade possible, according to Air Rankings Online (see
Airline Rankings ). Rankings are cumulatives, based on the number of fatal accidents per million flights that the carrier has flown since 1970.
Aloha Airlines serves the following cities (at September
2005 ):
The Aloha Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at March 2006):
In March 2006, the average age of Aloha Airlines fleet is 25.4 years, one of the oldest in the nation
Aloha Airlines'
Jet Fleet consists of two types of
Boeing 737 aircraft. The mainstay of the fleet, used on interisland runs, is the 737-200. The newer, long-range variant, the 737-700, has wider wings and greater fuel capacity and is deployed for trips to the mainland.
