Neil Takekawa is the vice president of sales and marketing for the Hawaii Superferry.

Q. Why did you leave Roberts Hawaii to join the Superferry?

A. Roberts at the time that I left was in good hands and the opportunity here at the Superferry was exciting for me. It was just the opportunity of what the Superferry was doing, where it was going. It interested me.

Q. Some would say you went from a steady job to an unsteady one with the Superferry. Did you consider that a risk?

A. When I moved from Island Air and I went to Roberts, I think that was a risk, even though they were both strong companies at the time. Moving from Roberts to the Superferry, I guess you can say it was a risk. But at the same time, what I was interested in doing was being able to come into a company or come into a position and be a contributor, that I could come in with my skills and my background and be able to hit the ground running and be able to contribute to the company. That was important to me.

Q. With the visitor industry struggling, it would have been difficult for you regardless of who you work for.

A. No doubt about it. Unfortunately, this is not a tourist issue, this is not a Hawai'i issue. We're really talking about the nation and the world in what we're going through. There is no doubt the economics is just not positive. But at the same time, we look at what the Hawai'i Superferry can contribute to the economy and I think that's very positive.

Q. You're responsible for sales and marketing. Is your job particularly difficult because of the economy?

A. Ultimately, if the economy were good, definitely my job would be a lot easier. At the same time, the challenge of educating people what the Hawaii Superferry is all about, what we can do and what we bring to the table, that's been a little bit of a challenge. But that whole thing is compounded by the poor economy that we're in right now.

Q. What are the biggest misunderstandings about the Superferry?

A. The point that people need to understand is we're a new concept and a brand-new company. There's nothing else like this in Hawai'i and trying to differentiate us between traveling to the Neighbor Island on an airline or moving your cargo on a barge, we're someplace in between that. Having people understand what that is is probably the biggest challenge. But at the same time, it's probably our biggest opportunity, too, because once people try it, we find that they like it and they're actually willing to recommend this to their friends.

Q. The Hawai'i Supreme Court will decide whether a law that allowed the Superferry to operate is constitutional. Does the uncertainty pose a problem for you and your job?

A. It really wasn't part of my decision coming over to the Hawaii Superferry. It probably does put some questions in people's minds, but ultimately what it comes down to is the Legislature. When they created what they did, there were a lot of smart people who put that law together to allow us to operate. The intent was to have us operate and the nice part about it is the people who travel with us like it, businesses like it and we're doing more than what any other interisland carrier does. It's all positive.

Q. Do you think about what will happen if the court rules against the Superferry, that you possibly could be out of work?

A. I guess that's always there. I have a different attitude in the sense that interestingly I've been an at-will employee for so many years. Being the president of a company or being a manager of any kind of company, you could be out of a job because they don't like the way you comb your hair. To me, I come into this position and work real hard and put my effort all for it. If that pans out, great, if it doesn't, then I have to figure out what I'm doing. For right now, I try not to dwell on things that I cannot control. Otherwise I'd have to worry about the ozone disappearing.

Q. You've been in the visitor industry your entire career. Have you ever seen times like this?

A. We go through these cycles, and unfortunately this is a really mean cycle. I think the closest would be Sept. 11, 2001, where it wasn't just the U.S., but worldwide. How are we going to come out of it? Good question. I'm not quite sure. I don't think I'm that smart.

Q. 9/11 was a little different because a lot of it was confidence among the travelers, and once you got that back, people started flying again. Today it's more an economic thing where people cannot afford to travel.

A. A lot of people are very conservative, especially in Hawai'i, that even if they have the money, they're being very careful in how they spend it. That does affect us, no doubt about it. Hopefully, we're going to turn this corner. The economists are saying we're not going to see a turn until 2010. Hopefully it's not a cul-de-sac where we're going around and around.

Q. What's the status of the Big Island ferry?

A. Right now, we're probably looking at 2010 as the start-up on that. The vessel is about 95 percent completed. We made a prudent financial decision not to bring the vessel out here. Bringing the vessel here would have cost us $10 million. We thought about it and looked at where the economy was. It wasn't as bad as it is right now, but it didn't look good. So we made a very conscious decision that we're going to hold off bringing it out here and starting up the Big Island service. Obviously we disappointed a lot of people who expected our operation to begin. But for the benefit of the entire company, I think it was a good decision.

Q. You've worked in the air, land and sea business. What do you bring to the table?

A. What I bring to the table really is a combination of knowledge and background that was sort of missing. This is a brand-new position for the company and part of what I bring is years of experience with the airlines and with the transportation side. Along with that are a lot of great connections and contacts. My customer base here at Hawaii Superferry is exactly the same customer base at Roberts and even at Island Air and Aloha Airlines. Many, many people that I've known and met and stayed in contact with over the years are still customers here at Hawaii Superferry, so that's a big plus. I brought my Rolodex with me.

Q. Is this the final stop for you?

A. I talk to my wife about retiring and she kind of laughs at me. I don't have this really long-term plan as far as where I want to be and what I want to do. I will be here as long as I can continue to contribute. If I can no longer contribute, if I become useless, I will be the first to move on. I don't want to just sit in an office and not do anything. It just doesn't work for me.