Hawaiian nets $9.6M in June

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaiian Airlines reported $9.6 million in net income for June, resulting in $7.7 million in net income for Hawai'i's largest airline for the first half of the year.

But Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner said Hawaiian's June "load factor" — a measurement of airplane occupancy — "was slightly better than last year."

"And it is the beginning of summer, so not unexpectantly, the numbers are better than May," he said.

In the second quarter of 2002, Hawaiian Airlines' parent company reported financial losses of more than $30 million.

Hawaiian filed for bankruptcy protection in March. In an unaudited statement of operations filed with the federal bankruptcy court, Hawaiian reported June operating income of $10.7 million, compared with $13.8 million for the first six months of 2003.

At the end of June, Hawaiian also reported total liabilities and shareholders' deficit of $291.6 million.

Hawaiian's parent company — Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. — in the meantime wants Hawaiian Airlines to provide assistance, financial information or money to meet an Aug. 15 filing deadline for second quarter earnings reports and avoid being delisted by the American Stock Exchange. Hawaiian Holdings has no capital or employees and was set up as a shell company to handle the airline's stock.

But Josh Gotbaum, the trustee overseeing Hawaiian Airlines' bankruptcy reorganization, has suggested that releasing money to help Hawaiian Holdings appears unlikely.

Trading of Hawaiian Holdings' common stock on the American Stock Exchange and Pacific Exchange has been halted since July 14, after the resignation of the company's transfer agent, Mellon Investor Services LLC.

Hawaiian Holdings owed an undisclosed amount of fees to Mellon, which had been responsible for transferring securities ownership.