Mesa Air Group's Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ornstein said his company started go! airline because he thought he could undercut fares charged by Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines and still make money.

His intent was not to drive Aloha or Hawaiian out of business, Ornstein said during a hearing yesterday on Hawaiian's Bankruptcy Court lawsuit against Mesa.

Ornstein said Mesa decided to launch an interisland airline after seeing one-way fares triple during the past decade from $28 to about $89.

Ornstein said the startup could make a profit when fares are $40 to $52.

"We always thought we would lower prices," Ornstein said. "We thought we could be profitable at lower levels."

Ornstein's testimony came on the second day of a high-stakes trial pitting Hawaiian against Mesa. Hawaiian is suing Mesa Air Group for allegedly using confidential Hawaiian Airlines business information to launch go! last year.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris, who presided over the hearing, made no ruling yesterday but scheduled further hearings this week and next.

During his testimony, Ornstein responded to an October 2006 ruling in which Faris concluded that Mesa at one time tried to drive Aloha out of business. Faris' ruling cited an e-mail from Mesa Chief Financial Officer Peter Murnane, which stated: "We definitely don't want to wait for them to die, rather we should be the ones who give them the last push."

According to Ornstein, the e-mail reflects Murnane's personal views and not that of Mesa.

He said Mesa at one time had proposed a joint venture with Aloha when it was still in bankruptcy. In the deal, Mesa would invest $20 million in the state's No. 2 airline, provide new aircraft and sell a large block of low-fare tickets on each interisland flight.

But the plan was rejected when Aloha was acquired in February 2006 by a group headed by California billionaire Ron Burkle.

"We prefer to do business with them and not against them," Ornstein said.

Hawaiian said it received a similar offer from Mesa when it was in bankruptcy but turned down the deal. Hawaiian emerged from bankruptcy protection in June 2005 under new ownership led by California-based Ranch Capital LLC.

"We rejected it out of hand principally because we couldn't see any conceivable benefits to Hawaiian, to its employees, to its shareholders or to Hawai'i as a whole," said Hawaiian Chief Executive Officer Mark Dunkerley, who attended yesterday's hearing. "It was a proposal that had zero benefit at all to any of our stakeholders."

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.