HOW EVENTS UNFOLDED

March 2003: Hawaiian Airlines files for bankruptcy protection.

April 2004: The federal bankruptcy court allows potential investors to study Hawaiian's books under a confidentiality agreement.

April to May 2004: Mesa downloads more than 60 documents, including more than 2,000 pages of proprietary information about Hawaiian's financial performance, projections and business strategy.

May 2004: Mesa is eliminated as a bidder for Hawaiian.

December 2004: Aloha Airlines files for bankruptcy protection.

April 2005: Mesa starts looking into acquiring or forming a business alliance with Aloha. Mesa retains GCW Consulting, an Arlington, Va.-based aviation consulting firm, to "look at a possible acquisition or some other structure for entry into the Hawai'i market."

June 2005: Hawaiian Airlines exits bankruptcy protection under the ownership of California-based Ranch Capital LLC.

January 2006: Mesa's Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ornstein tells investors that Mesa's decision to enter the interisland market was based on its review of Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines during their bankruptcy cases.

February 2006: Hawaiian sues Mesa to bar the company from operating in the interisland market for two years. Hawaiian alleges Mesa improperly used confidential data it received when Hawaiian was in bankruptcy. Hawaiian later reduces the length of the ban it seeks to one year.

March 2006: Mesa begins selling tickets for its June 9 launch of interisland carrier go!

March 2006: Mesa files countersuit, accusing Hawaiian of trying to illegally block competition.

June 2006: Mesa launches go!

September 2006: Hawaiian alleges Mesa tried to drive Aloha out of business and cites e-mails by Mesa Chief Financial Officer Peter Murnane. One e-mail says: "If we assume Aloha stays in market and in business forever, this project makes no sense. We definitely don't want to wait for them to die, rather we should be the ones who give them the last push."

October 2006: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris rejects Hawaiian's request for a ban but says Mesa "probably breached the confidentiality agreement" by failing to return or destroy material it received. Faris also concludes that "at one time, Mesa hoped to drive Aloha out of business."

October 2006: Aloha sues Mesa, alleging that it misused confidential information in an attempt to drive Aloha out of business.

December 2006: Faris throws out Mesa's countersuit against Hawaiian.

August 2007: Hawaiian accuses Mesa CFO Murnane of destroying several computer files that included confidential Hawaiian material.

October 2007 : Faris orders Mesa to pay Hawaiian $80 million in damages for misusing confidential business information.

December 2007: Faris rules Mesa should have done more to protect key evidence that was destroyed by the company's former chief financial officer and does not grant a new trial.

January 2008: Reeling from the $80 million judgment, Mesa reports the largest quarterly loss in its history, a total of $68.2 million, or $2.37 per share, during the three months that ended Sept. 30, 2007.

February 2008: Higher fuel and maintenance costs helped triple losses at go! airline during the last three months of 2007, the company reports in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Mesa says go! had an operating loss of $6.6 million in that quarter, up from a $1.9 million loss in the same period a year earlier.

March 2008: Aloha Airlines files for bankruptcy for the second time in a little more than three years, blaming go! and Mesa.

March 30: Aloha abruptly shuts down passenger service and seeks to sell its contract services and cargo units.

April 8: Facing the loss of a $20 million-a-month contract with Delta Air Lines, Mesa warns investors of a potential bond default. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mesa said it is seeking shareholder approval to issue up to $37.8 million in new common stock to pay off its bondholders.

April 28: Aloha shuts down its cargo division, which carries 85 percent of all goods by air between the islands.

Today: Mesa announces a settlement with Hawaiian Airlines for $52.5 million, without admitting any wrongdoing.