Hawaiian Airlines merger officially over

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaiian Airlines yesterday formally notified its partners in the proposed merger with Aloha Airlines that the agreement to combine the carriers is officially terminated.

Yesterday was the day the merger, announced in December, was supposed to be completed.

In its statement, Hawaiian said the agreement was terminated because the April 18 closing date was not met.

Hawaiian announced in March that the Houston consulting firm leading the merger, TurnWorks, had asked to extend the completion date, but that Hawaiian declined because of risks and rising costs associated with completing the deal.

An Aloha spokesman said yesterday that the company would not comment on Hawaiian's formal notice.

Aloha has considered seeking a $4 million merger break-up fee from Hawaiian, but the airline said yesterday it had not decided whether it would do so.

Aloha has previously charged that Hawaiian sought to change the terms of the agreement, including installing Hawaiian chairman John Adams as chairman and chief executive of the merged airline, instead of Greg Brenneman, the former president and chief operating officer of Continental Airlines who was engineering the merger through TurnWorks.

Hawaiian has said it disagrees with Aloha's characterization of merger negotiations. Yesterday, Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner again declined to elaborate.

Reach Andrew Gomes at 525-8065 or agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.