Aloha Airgroup Inc., the parent company of Aloha Airlines, still would be privately run by family members of the late Hung Wo Ching and businessman Sheridan Ing, Banmiller said. But potential new investors are likely to alter the family stake in the company.

"I think there will be a change in the dynamics of the ownership structure," Banmiller said. "Everybody that we're talking to wants the family to stay in. They're pillars of the community. The only question is how will the ownership percentage dynamic change."

Both managers and union employees also likely will be earning less and saving the company money through other cost-cutting concessions.

The employee changes are just one part of $60 million worth of savings that Banmiller has targeted.

But when Aloha does emerge from bankruptcy, Banmiller expects it will be financially strong and perhaps even enjoy a string of profitable months of operation.

"We're actually in a fairly uncomplicated situation," said Banmiller, 60, who took over Aloha on Nov. 14 after coming from Air Jamaica. "We have a plan and we know we can turn it around economically."

Banmiller has crammed a lot of changes in the two months he's been at Aloha, which had four straight quarterly losses, including a $6 million loss in the third quarter.

On Dec. 2, the company announced the cancellation of its money-losing, twice-weekly flights to the Marshall Islands and to American Samoa. A week later, Aloha eliminated 12 top management positions and froze 35 additional open positions.

Yesterday morning, Banmiller finalized arrangements to add two new daily flights between Orange County and Hawai'i, and a new San Diego-to-Honolulu route.

Then he was off to a meeting with union shop stewards representing Aloha's machinists, part of his efforts to win further concessions from Aloha's five unions.

A tentative agreement with Aloha's pilots seemed imminent earlier in the week. Although the major issues have been settled with the pilots, Banmiller would not detail the cause of the delay.

"We're asking for a lot and it takes time," he said. "We're dealing with five unions in 45 days. It's an incredible task and nobody wants to make a mistake."

Banmiller said, "I believe in the chemistry of communication."

And one of his messages is that Aloha should emerge from bankruptcy quicker than Hawaiian Airlines, which has been in bankruptcy since March 2003.

Hawaiian's bankruptcy reorganization was delayed, in part, by the bitter court fight over the removal of Hawaiian's former CEO, John Adams, and the subsequent search for two consecutive bankruptcy trustees.

"Ours is a much cleaner issue with a different structure," Banmiller said. "It's in everybody's best interest not to make bankruptcy an art form because some people have been in there for years."

Banmiller insists that he did not come to Hawai'i with the mandate to take Aloha into bankruptcy.

"I knew we had serious problems," he said. "... But conditions beyond our control, like fuel (costs), forced us into this decision. I knew we couldn't continue the way we had."

Just before Christmas, Banmiller went to Aloha's board of directors and laid out a series of options — including searching for new sources of investment — but ultimately ended up recommending filing for bankruptcy protection.

"I would prefer not to be in bankruptcy," he said. "At the end of the day, we made the decision that would give all of the constituents a better future. ... Given all of the circumstances that we were dealing with, it was the right thing to do."

Banmiller has met with Gov. Linda Lingle, Hawai'i's congressional delegation, each of the county mayors, key legislative leaders and visited each of Aloha's five Hawai'i stations at least twice.

He has sat in Aloha cockpits talking with pilots, visited employee break rooms and spent time on the loading ramp, talking with as many of Aloha's 3,668 employees as he can.

Banmiller said he enjoys speaking with the rank-and-file workers who keep Aloha running and feels at home in any airline's "bag room," where he once worked.

Banmiller believes in projecting a positive attitude, which he insists can be infectious during difficult times.

"People wonder why I smile a lot," he said. "...When you talk about the scary bankruptcy environment and the potential loss of jobs, if you have somebody crumbling in front of you that's supposed to be your leader, then you're going to panic."

And Banmiller brags about the Aloha employees who e-mail him or speak with him in person about their ideas to streamline the operation.

"One longtime flight attendant asked me, 'What can I do to help?'," Banmiller said. "My answer was, 'Keep doing the great job you're doing. ...Things are going to be OK."