Aloha Airlines, which shut down its passenger service last month, plans to sell its 1,100-employee aviation services division to a Los Angeles company.

The fate of Aloha's air cargo division — which employs about 300 people and handles as much as 85 percent of all freight flown between O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands — was left up in the air yesterday, amid objections by creditors and a strike threat by Aloha's pilots.

Pacific Air Cargo, with extensive operations in Hawai'i and Samoa, has offered to pay more than $2.2 million for Aloha's contract services division, which provides customer service, baggage service, ticket agents and ramp agents here for carriers such as Japan Airlines and United Airlines.

Aloha said the deal will preserve many of the division's 1,100 jobs, but did not give a specific number.

The deal must be approved by the federal bankruptcy court. Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay Aloha's main lenders.

"We are gratified to have this bidder come forward to preserve the jobs of our employees and to continue the important work of providing aviation services in Hawai'i," Aloha CEO David Banmiller said in a news release.

Beti Ward, Pacific Air's founder and chief executive officer, could not be reached for comment, and calls to the company's Honolulu office were not returned.

The purchase of Aloha's contract services division would complement the eight-year-old Pacific Air's interisland and trans-Pacific air freight business.

Founded in 2000, Pacific Air operates five cargo flights a week between Honolulu and Los Angeles. The company also flies cargo between Honolulu and the Neighbor Islands.

According to its Web site, Pacific Air provides some ground handling services.

Last year, Pacific Air opened a 65,000-square-foot facility at Honolulu International Airport.

"Pacific Air is committed to utilizing Aloha's vibrant and talented workforce to continue serving the people of Hawai'i and visitors from all over the world," Pacific Air's Ward said in a statement.

The 62-year-old Aloha was the state's second-largest carrier before it shut down its passenger service last month and laid off 1,900 workers in the state's worst-ever mass firing.

The shutdown came 11 days after Aloha filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in about three years. The company, which lost $120 million during the past two years, blamed soaring fuel prices and an interisland fare war.

Aloha also sought to auction its profitable cargo division yesterday, but the bidding was extended to today.

The leading bidder had been Saltchuk Resources Inc., the Seattle-based owner of Young Brothers/Hawaiian Tug & Barge, which had offered to pay $18 million.

A potential snag came up when Aloha's lead lender, GMAC Commercial Finance LLC, insisted that bidding start at $20 million. GMAC has lent Aloha more than $44 million.

Yesterday, Aloha's pilots union filed objections against the Saltchuk deal, saying the company violated a collective bargaining agreement when it terminated the pilots March 31 and permitted pilots who were low on the seniority list to continue flying for the cargo division.

The pilots union is threatening to go on strike if the airline continues to assign lower-seniority pilots to fly Aloha's interisland cargo routes.

The committee that represents Aloha's unsecured creditors also filed objections against the auction, accusing the airline and GMAC of rushing the sale of the cargo and contract services division.

In court papers filed yesterday, creditors' attorneys Margery Bronster and Carole Neville wrote that Aloha did not properly market the cargo division and made it difficult for prospective buyers to submit bids.

One potential investor, Castle & Cooke Aviation, declined to submit an offer after it ran into significant delays in getting financial information, the lawyers said.