Aloha Airlines

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Aloha Airlines

IATA AQ	ICAO AAH	Callsign Aloha
Founded		1946 (as Trans-Pacific Airlines)
Hubs		Honolulu International Airport
Focus cities		Kahului Airport, Maui
Frequent flyer program		AlohaPass
Member lounge		Alii Club
Fleet size		23
Destinations		11
Parent company		Aloha Airgroup, Inc.
Headquarters		Honolulu, Hawaii
Key people		David A. Banmiller (CEO)
Website: http://www.alohaairlines.com

Aloha Airlines (IATA: AQ, ICAO: AAH, and Callsign: Aloha) 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 inter-island 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 longest inter-island route is 216 miles, while the shortest route is a mere 62 miles. Average length of travel per inter-island flight is 133 miles. The inter-island hub of operations is Honolulu while the hubs for mainland/transpacific flights are Honolulu and Kahului.

1 History
2 Incidents and accidents
3 Destinations
4 Fleet
5 External links

[edit] History

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. On August 30, 2006, Gordon Bethune was named Chairman of the Board.

Mergers with archrival Hawaiian Airlines have been attempted at least three times, in 1970, 1988, and 2001, none successfully.

[edit] Incidents and accidents

Aloha Airlines Boeing 737-297, registration N73711, operating flight AQ243 from Hilo to Honolulu at Kahului Airport on April 28, 1988 after its fuselage was torn away during flight.

On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines Flight 243 Boeing 737 (N73711) inter-island flight from Hilo Airport to Honolulu International Airport carrying 89 passengers and six crew experienced rapid decompression when an 18 foot section of the fuselage roof and sides was torn from the airplane. One flight attendant (Clarabelle Lansing) was ejected from the aircraft during the decompression 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 Mayday, shown on the Discovery Channel.