Aloha Airlines lays out cards, aims to sell off services

Aloha Airlines lays out cards, aims to sell off services

Aloha Airlines told a U.S. Bankruptcy Court Friday the firm was entertaining offers to purchase some or all of the firm.

   The Honolulu-based airline filed to reorganize its finances under Chapter 11 protection Thursday, a little more than two years after emerging from pervious Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed in December 2004.

   Aloha officials said the firm's passenger, air freight, and contract services, including U.S. mail shipments, are on the block.

   Aloha said it intends to keep flying as long as the firm's financial plan to keep operating is accepted by the bankruptcy court. Lawyers for Aloha told Judge Lloyd King the firm expects to spend $2.3 million of its remaining $3.5 million in cash on expenses over the next 10 days.

   King allowed the carrier to continuing paying its daily operating costs, including wages, fuel and utilities.

   Aloha, with its main hub at Honolulu International Airport, serves six West Coast mainland cities and provides extensive inter-island service throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

   Founded in 1946 as a charter of Trans-Pacific Airlines, the airline floundered in the early 2000s following the Japanese recession, the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the 2003 SARS panic. On Dec. 30, 2004, Aloha filed for protection that led to new labor contracts and an additional influx of capital from new investors. The firm emerged from bankruptcy on Feb. 17, 2006, but has faced rising fuel prices and a protracted inter-island fare war with competitor !go, a regional brand of Phoenix, Ariz.-based Mesa Airlines.

   Aloha operates an all-Boeing fleet of 25 various model 737s, including 16 737-200s in the inter-island service, eight 737-700s to various mainland cities and a single 737-800 to Sacramento.