The U.S. Office of the Trustee will narrow the list and begin interviewing the top candidates, with a decision expected within the next two weeks.

The selection will be up to San Diego-based Steven Katzman, who took over today as U.S. trustee for the Southern District of California, Hawai'i, Guam and Saipan. His selection is subject to court approval.

On Friday, a federal bankruptcy judge ousted the management of Hawai'i's biggest airline, saying "Hawaiian consistently placed the interests of its shareholders ahead of the interests of its creditors, even while the company was in severe financial distress."

Hawaiian's chief executive, John Adams, was on the East Coast today. Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner said he didn't know when Adams was to return.

"We're anxious to continue our restructuring," Wagner said. "So we are anxious to find out who that person will be (to serve as trustee) and work with them as quickly as possible."

Taking Hawaiian through bankruptcy would be an intense, time-consuming job that also offers a high-profile, professional challenge, said Michael McQuay, one of the people contacted by creditors to serve as trustee.

McQuay, 54, was born in Kailua and was Hawaiian's executive vice president and chief operating officer from 1995 to 1997. His daughter and one of McQuay's two sons attend Chaminade University.

Serving as trustee would "be rigorous, 24 hours a day, seven days a week until the company emerges from bankruptcy," McQuay said. "... Taking the company through the throes of bankruptcy and righting it would be a personal, significant accomplishment."

Other trustees appointed to run bankrupt airlines came in only when companies were being liquidated or the airlines had stopped running, McQuay said.

"At that particular time, it's like a vacuum," he said. "The revenues are sucked out of the business at way too rapid of a rate. The key is to get into the business early. (Running Hawaiian) is not only doable, but an opportunity for the business to grow and plant the seeds for success."

McQuay is president of Bombardier Business Jet Solutions in Dallas. He would have to quit his job and return to Hawai'i for a position that would only last six months or slightly longer, he said.

But a trustee who does the job could have a future with Hawaiian after it successfully emerges from bankruptcy, McQuay said.