Pepe had been among the airline's shareholders who refused to sell their stock back to the company in 2002 because it didn't seem to make good business sense, Pepe said.

"I remember thinking this was not a good idea," Pepe said. "United was laying off people, American was laying off people and we were furloughing people."

So when Pepe asked Adams whether he should look for another pilot's job, "Adams looked me straight in the eye and said, 'Oh, no. Everything's going to be fine. Everything's going to be just fine.' "

Two weeks later, Hawaiian Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. And last week Hawaiian Holdings Inc., the carrier's parent company, disclosed that the stock buyback program is the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.

Adams, removed from control of the airline in a bankruptcy court fight, remains CEO of Hawaiian Holdings, which isn't part of the Chapter 11 proceedings.

As news of the SEC investigation spread last week, many Hawaiian employees marked the stock buyback program as the moment when their company's fortunes took a noticeable turn under Adams' control.

The plan was for Hawaiian to buy back $25 million worth of its own stock, or 5.88 million shares, at $4.25 per share — a price 31 percent higher than before the program was announced.

Adams, or companies he controlled, collected $17 million in the buyback without giving up his standing as majority shareholder.

The buyback program particularly angers Hawaiian's pilots because Adams and Hawaiian officials advertised it as a way to avoid bankruptcy.

That's the same thing Adams said when he was selling pilots on $8 million worth of compensation concessions. They agreed to the concessions, and Hawaiian filed for bankruptcy anyway.

"The pilots capitulated in the hopes that all would go well," said Capt. Tom Rigsby, a Boeing 767 pilot who has flown for Hawaiian for 17 years.

"Everybody knew the majority of that $25 million (from the buyback program) was going into John Adams' pocket. ... Then he basically told us that if we gave him the concessions, he wouldn't take the company into bankruptcy. And yet he took us into bankruptcy again."

Or as Hawaiian Capt. Craig Kobayashi said, "he took the cash out of the company and later on came to us and said, 'We don't have money. Please give us a concession.' Immediately after, he filed for Chapter 11. ... We feel duped, cheated and lied to."

Adams has not commented on the SEC investigation. Hawaiian Holdings has stated that it will cooperate fully with the probe.

There have been other issues since that have brought Hawaiian employees to anger. Pilots, in particular, are upset over plans by Hawaiian's bankruptcy trustee to close two pilot bases in California, which will disrupt their lives, and to not pay $4.25 million into their pension plan — even though the company has made a profit in the past four months.

Pepe was downgraded from captain to co-pilot in July as he was bumped by senior pilots in a company reorganization. That meant a 31 percent pay cut. At the age of 58, he also faces mandatory retirement in 15 months.

The disclosure of the SEC investigation last week revived his memory of when things started going badly for Hawaiian.

"I don't ever want him coming up to talk to me," Pepe said of Adams. "I don't ever want anything to do with him again."