"My view is that $8 million is too much," said U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris. "The question is what is the right amount."

After a two-hour hearing, Faris placed Gotbaum's controversial fee request under advisement and did not say when he would issue a final decision.

Yesterday Faris issued a 9-page, interim ruling that cut Gotbaum's $8 million request to $250,000.

Gotbaum's fee request -- in addition to his $50,000 a month salary and $10,000 a month in housing and other costs -- has been opposed by Hawaiian's management and its unions. Gotbaum's attorneys have defended the compensation as reasonable given Hawaiian's emergence from bankruptcy in June as a profitable company.