And after taking Hawaiian Airlines into bankruptcy in March, and all the things that have been said about him since, Adams finally broke months of silence last week to say he has no plans to get involved with any other airline, either.

"There was a lot of speculation that I had intentions to come back to the operation," Adams said last week by telephone from New York.

"I want to use this opportunity to say that while I stand ready to assist (Hawaiian's bankruptcy trustee) in whatever he sees fit, I have no interest in coming back to the operations of Hawaiian. ... I have no future role in the airline."

Adams, who turned 60 this month, lives in northern New Jersey and works in Manhattan, where he focuses on Smith Management LLC, one of the companies in which he has interests.

As chairman and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines' parent company, Hawaiian Holdings Inc., Adams said he also spends considerable time following the airline's attempt to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

He remains chairman and sits on the board of Hawaiian Airlines, though he was forced to resign as CEO by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge, and the board's activities have been put on hold.

Meanwhile, Hawaiian Holdings and some of its officers are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a stock buyback program that earned Adams and his companies $17 million.

Adams also has been denounced by Hawaiian employees who feel he duped them into giving labor concessions. And his motivations in getting access to Hawaiian Airlines documents have been questioned in bankruptcy court.

In a 30-minute telephone interview, Adams repeated central themes:

• Many of the changes that have led Hawaiian to five consecutive months of profits can be traced to operational changes set in motion by him and his former management team.

• He still cares about the airline and its employees and the sacrifices they made to keep Hawaiian running.

• He fully expects Hawaiian to emerge from bankruptcy protection, though he does not know when.

Adams also revealed that his original $500,000 investment in Hawaiian in 1996 has not produced any gain.

"I have not come close to recovering my investment in the airline," Adams said.

He has met several times with bankruptcy trustee Josh Gotbaum, who has been critical about the stock buyback, saying it was a wrong business judgment.

Adams said he has "a number of opinions" on the stock buyback program, but declined to discuss them in detail.

"I think that the stock buyback was done in a fully disclosed fashion," Adams said. "But I'm advised by my attorneys that since litigation could arise, I should not make further statements, as much as I'd like to get into that."

Asked how he felt about Gotbaum working out of the Koapaka Street office he once occupied, Adams said, "I notice that in addition to sitting in my office, he has pursued the things that I instituted at Hawaiian Airlines, and I hope that he continues to pursue those. ... This year, Hawaiian has reflected all of the good things that I started, and I wish Mr. Gotbaum well."

The majority owner of Hawaiian Airlines shares, with 50.9 percent of the stock, remains Airline Investors Partnership, a company controlled by Adams. But Adams said he is not trying to buy more stock, and has in fact suspended any activity.

Asked why he finally decided to speak out after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris stripped him of control, Adams said, "reviewing the press coverage since last March, the information, the communication among the islands of Hawai'i was fairly one-sided, didn't project my perspective. And I thought it was a good time to do that."

Adams said he still has close ties to Hawaiian employees.

"I have a lot of friends in Hawai'i, a lot of friends in management," he said. "A lot of employees respect what I've done. I've enjoyed working with them. I've enjoyed working with the labor groups, and I believe that a lot of people believe I brought a lot of value to the airline as well."

Adams and his management team made fundamental changes to Hawaiian that are helping to right the company, he said.

In particular, he and current president Mark Dunkerley "have had a positive effect on the airline," he said.

"It should be noted that all of those (changes) were either employed or started by myself and our management team when I was there at the airline — such as converting our entire fleet to modern, more efficient planes; shifting the island operations away from coupons and introducing the new interisland price structure; and focusing on a direct and Web-based distribution channels (for tickets), increased use of automation."

Adams said he and his team negotiated restructuring of the labor contracts and two of the three airline leases while there.

He praised Hawaiian's recent financial success and string of awards. But he said his time running an airline is over.

"I've learned an awful lot during my time at Hawaiian," Adams said. "I have no plans to get involved in the airline industry."