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Aloha Airlines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Aloha Airlines | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| IATA AQ |
ICAO AAH |
Callsign ALOHA |
| Founded | 1946 (as Trans-Pacific Airlines) | |
| Hubs | Honolulu International Airport | |
| Focus cities | John Wayne Airport Kahului Airport |
|
| Frequent flyer program | AlohaPass | |
| Member lounge | Alii Club | |
| Fleet size | 25 | |
| Destinations | 11 | |
| Parent company | Aloha Airgroup, Inc. | |
| Headquarters | Honolulu, Hawaii | |
| Key people | David A. Banmiller (CEO) | |
| Website: http://www.alohaairlines.com | ||
Aloha Airlines is an American 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 hub is Honolulu International Airport, with focus cities at Orange County's John Wayne Airport, and Maui's Kahului Airport.[1]
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.[citation needed] Aloha also markets some inter-island routes served by partner Island Air, and passengers may earn miles in either its own frequent flyer program, AlohaPass, or in United Airlines' Mileage Plus program.[2][3][4]
Aloha is a Hawaiian word expressing affection or love, commonly used as a greeting.
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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 with a single war-surplus Douglas C-47 (DC-3) on a flight from Honolulu to Maui and Hilo. The name reflected Tongg's vision of a trans-oceanic airline connecting California, Hawaii, and China. It soon earned the nickname "The Aloha Airline," and was flying four aircraft by the end of the year. Approval to operate as a scheduled airline came when President Harry S. Truman signed the certificate on February 21, 1949, with the first scheduled flight on June 6, 1949, following ceremonies held the previous day.
In 1952, the airline reported its first annual profit: $36,410.12. The airline's market share rose to 30% that year, up from 10% in 1950, the year the airline adopted the name TPA-The Aloha Airline. However, the introduction of the Convair 340 at Hawaiian halted further growth TPA's market share for over five years. In 1958, real estate developer Hung Wo Ching, whose family held a sizable stake in the airline and following overtures by Tongg, was elected president of the airline. In November of that year, the company changed its name again, becoming Aloha Airlines. On April 15, 1959, Aloha took delivery of its first Fairchild F-27 turboprop aircraft. These aircraft were unique to Aloha, built with a stronger keel beam and thicker belly skin to satisfy concerns about ditching the high-wing aircraft. That summer, Aloha's market share jumped to 42%.
Aloha retired its last DC-3 on January 3, 1961, becoming the second airline in the United States to operate an all-turbine fleet. In 1963, the airline took delivery of two Vickers Viscounts from Austrian Airlines and soon acquired a third. Soon, the airline made the move to pure jets, with its first BAC One-Eleven arriving in Honolulu on April 16, 1966. The last F-27 was retired from service in June 1967. As Hawaiian took delivery of larger Douglas DC-9-30s, Aloha realized its smaller One-Elevens, which also took performance penalties in Kona, put it at a disadvantage. The airline went shopping and placed an order for two Boeing 737-200s in December. Named "Funbirds", the Boeing jets entered service on March 2, 1969. The massive capacity increase hurt both airlines, and in 1970, the first of three unsuccessful merger attempts between the two rivals (the others coming in 1988 and 2001) was made. In October 1971, the airline sold its remaining Viscounts and became an all-jet airline.
In 1983, Aloha introduced its AlohaPass frequent flyer program. In 1984, the airline leased a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, and on May 28th, inaugurated service with the aircraft between Honolulu, Guam, and Taipei under the name Aloha Pacific. The operation, however, was unable to compete with the pressure placed on it by Continental, and was discontinued on January 12, 1985. In October of that year, Aloha acquired Quick-Change 737 aircraft that could be quickly converted from passenger configuration to an all-cargo freighter configuration for nighttime cargo flights. In February 1986, Aloha began weekly flights between Honolulu and Kiritimati (Christmas Island), becoming the first airline to operate ETOPS 737s.
In late 1986, Ching and vice-chairman Sheridan Ing announced plans to take 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. In 1987, the airline acquired Princeville Airways, renaming Aloha IslandAir, which became known as Island Air in 1995. In 2003, Island Air was sold to Gavarnie Holding and became an independent airline.
On February 14, 2000, the airline began mainland service, flying newly delivered Boeing 737-700s from Honolulu and Kahului to Oakland, California.
Rising costs 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.
The airline is wholly owned by the Aloha Airgroup and has 3,482 employees.[5]
Aloha Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[4]
Aloha Airlines serves the following cities (as of November 2007):[2]
- Oakland (Oakland International Airport)
- Sacramento (Sacramento International Airport)
- San Diego (San Diego International Airport)
- Santa Ana (John Wayne Airport) Focus City
- Hilo (Hilo International Airport)
- Honolulu, Oahu|Honolulu (Honolulu International Airport) Hub
- Kahului, Maui|Kahului (Kahului Airport) Focus City
- Kona (Kona International Airport)
- Lihue (Lihue Airport)
* Note: Aloha Airlines also codeshares on Island Air flights to Hoolehua, Kapalua, and Lanai City using de Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft.
As of December 2007, the Aloha Airlines fleet consists of the following 25 aircraft: [6]
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (First/Economy) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-200 | 10 | 127 (0/127) | Hawaii Inter-Island | |
| Boeing 737-200C | 6 | Cargo | Hawaii Inter-Island Cargo | |
| Boeing 737-700 | 8 | 124 (12/112) | US Mainland | |
| Boeing 737-800 | 1 | 162 (12/150) | US Mainland (primarily Kahului-Sacramento) |
Leased from TransAvia from November 2007 - April 2008 [7] |
As of December 2007, the average age of the Aloha Airlines fleet is 18.5 years.[8]
- 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.[9]
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 (Air Crash Investigation and Air Emergency), shown on the Discovery Channel.
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-03-27, p. 73.
- ^ a b Where we Fly. Aloha Airlines. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ AlohaPass. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ Daysog, Rick. "Fare war 'can easily go' second year", The Honolulu Advertiser, 2007-06-03. Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
- ^ Aloha Airlines Fleet Detail
- ^ Aloha to lease a 737-800 for 2007 winter season
- ^ Aloha Airlines Fleet Age
- ^ Aloha Airlines Crash
- Young, Branden. "Aloha Airlines: Ready to Protect Their Beachfront in Paradise", Airliners: The World's Aviation Magazine, Airliners Publications, July/August 2006, pp. 35-39.
- Forman, Peter (2005). Wings of Paradise: Hawaii's Incomparable Airlines. Kailua, HI: Barnstormer Books. ISBN 978-0-9701594-4-1.
- Aloha Airlines
- Spirit of Aloha (inflight magazine)
- Planespotters.net: Aloha Airlines Fleet Detail
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