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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

History of Aloha Airlines

1946: Trans-Pacific Airlines' inaugural flight.

1958: Renamed Aloha Airlines.

1984: Sister carrier Aloha Pacific formed, starts service to Taiwan.

1985: Taipei service halted; Aloha refocuses on interisland market, diversifies into air cargo.

1986: Aloha's board decides to take the company private.

2000: Begins service to Oakland, Calif.; loses $4.3 million because of rising fuel costs and aggressive Mainland expansion.

2001: Begins service to Orange County, Calif.; trims interisland flights by 26 percent and lays off about 250 employees in response to drastic drop in travel following Sept. 11.

December 2001: Announces intention to merge with Hawaiian.

March 2002: Hawaiian calls off the proposed merger.

September 2002: Aloha and Hawaiian receive federal approval for an antitrust exemption, clearing the way for the two carriers to begin coordinating capacity on several key interisland routes.

November 2002: Aloha wins approval for a $45 million loan guarantee from the federal Air Transportation Stabilization Board.

November 2002: Aloha reaches agreement with four of its unions on pay cuts and contract extensions covering 3,000 workers.

April 2003: Aloha reports a net loss of $43 million in 2002, surpassing its $11.1 million loss the previous year.

May 2004: Aloha reports a net profit of $1.18 million for 2003.

Dec. 30, 2004: Aloha files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

May 17, 2005: Aloha reports a net loss loss of $30.4 million in 2004.

Feb. 17, 2006: Aloha exits bankruptcy 14 months after filing for Chapter 11 protection.

April 28, 2006: Aloha terminates pensions of nearly 4,000 of its employees and retirees and turned the plans over to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

May 2006: Aloha reports an $18.5 million net loss in 2005.

June 9, 2006: go! airlines enters the interisland airline market with $39 one-way fares.

Oct. 13, 2006: Aloha sues Mesa Air Group, alleging the Phoenix-based parent of the new interisland carrier go! misused confidential information in an attempt to drive Aloha out of business.

May 11, 2007: Aloha reports a net loss of $40.5 million in 2006.

Feb. 19, 2008: Crude oil prices close above $100 a barrel for the first time.

March 20, 2008: Aloha files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in just over three years.

March 30, 2008: Aloha Airlines shuts down its passenger service, firing 1,900 workers. The cargo service continues operating.

April 1, 2008: Aloha requests an injunction against the Air Line Pilots Association, alleging it is attempting to "disrupt or stop its cargo operations." The legal action was filed as a result of a disagreement between management and the pilots over whether former passenger service pilots should be given the option to fly cargo planes.

April 7, 2008: Aloha Airlines cancels seven of its 16 interisland round-trip cargo flights due to pilots' absence.

April 22, 2008: The Air Line Pilots Association files for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu seeking to prohibit the company from assigning lower-seniority pilots to fly Aloha's interisland cargo routes.

April 23, 2008: Aloha Airlines pilots vote to authorize a strike of the carrier's cargo operations. No strike date is set.

April 23, 2008: Saltchuk Resources Inc., the Seattle-based owner of Young Brothers/Hawaiian Tug & Barge, drops out of negotiations for the cargo division after the airline unexpectedly raises the price to $20 million. Saltchuk had bid $13 million for the cargo unit.

April 25, 2008: Aloha says it received an offer of $13.6 million from Jupiter Holdings Group for its cargo division.

April 28, 2008: Aloha shuts down its cargo division, which carries 85 percent of all goods by air between the islands. Aloha said its lender, GMAC Commercial Finance LLC, was unwilling to provide further financing and rejected the $13.6 million Jupiter bid.