News that Aloha Airlines would abruptly shut down its passenger operations today left some Neighbor Island customers scrambling to make alternative flight arrangements, while the prospect of unemployment forced many of the airline's employees to begin thinking about launching job searches.

Parents with Maui United Soccer Club huddled during a team practice yesterday to figure out what do about $6,000 paid to Aloha to fly 50 players, coaches and parents to Honolulu for next weekend's HYSA state championships.

Parents said they didn't know whether to gamble on standby seats on Hawaiian, pay for new bookings on Hawaiian or go!, wait to see if the state or some other party takes action to ensure passengers who have paid for tickets are accommodated, or even if Hawaii Superferry resumes service this week in response to the Aloha closure.

"We'll have to see if we can get 10 seats here, 10 seats there and hope we can get everyone out," said team parent Rhonda Maushardt.

Some Aloha customers who had just completed their travel expressed relief they weren't stranded by the airline's impending closure.

Kaua'i resident Tammy Appleby and four family members had just returned home from a trip to California, for which they had used Aloha frequent-flier points.

"I guess we got back just in time," Appleby said as she and her daughter, April Nakato, stood in line to inquire about missing luggage.

Appleby predicted that with Aloha out of the market, interisland ticket prices will "go back to being more than $100 each way, like they used to be."

A number of others on Aloha flights to Kaua'i agreed.

HIGHER RATES EXPECTED

Kaua'i resident Pedro Pages, who flew from San Diego yesterday on Aloha, said he worries that with the closure of Aloha's passenger service, "probably the rates will go higher."

Lines were steady at the Aloha ticket counter at Lihu'e Airport, giving employees little time to talk about their situation.

Aloha ticket agent Chrissy Luders, who has been with the company just a month, said she found out about the closing when she arrived for her shift yesterday.

Luders said she "didn't think about" losing her job when Aloha announced its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plans March 19, "because a lot of airlines go through reorganization, almost all of them have."

Aloha employees weren't talking much about the company's announcement, Luders said. "I think some people think there's still tomorrow."

"I can go find another job," she said. "I'm more worried about the longtime employees."

JOB CONCERNS

In Hilo, Aloha ramp agent and baggage handler Shaun Takahata was contemplating his future. Takahata, 20, got his first job with Aloha when he was 18, and was angry at the news of the shutdown.

The pay for a ramp agent isn't great, but Takahata, who is expecting a child in December, doesn't expect his unemployment benefits to pay his bills. "That probably won't cut it, I'll just have to go look for another job."

"It sucks," he said. "Hawaiian and Aloha are the two major carriers for almost 60 years. It's kind of sad to see us go down in flames. It sucks."

Solemn-faced employees at the Hilo terminal ticket counters worked under signs that read "Keep Aloha Alive" and "Keep Aloha Flying." The ticket agents would not comment on the news of the shutdown.

Chip Fowler, a U.S. Army chaplain who travels interisland about five times a year for pleasure trips, was surprised when told about the shutdown.

"I saw that they were in trouble; I didn't know that they were closing down this soon," said Fowler, who was at the Hilo airport. "They've been around a long time, and I think that Aloha Airlines kind of is the spirit of Hawai'i, so it's kind of painful to see them have to close their doors."

The Big Island is already feeling an economic slowdown from the real estate market's drop-off and a decline in cruise ship activity, and the end of Aloha passenger service there is a particular concern because of the timing.

The island has been enjoying a bump in tourism traffic because of the draw from spectacular activity recently at Kilauea volcano, and the Merrie Monarch Festival gets under way this week. The hula festival always stretches airline capacity to the Big Island to the limit.

"I think it just underscores the impact," said state Rep. Dwight Takamine, D-1st (Kohala, Hamakua, N. Hilo), as he prepared to board an Aloha flight from Hilo to Honolulu. "Because we are an island state, interisland travel and the options that are available are always critical. Aloha Airlines has been such a part of that history."

'IT'S A CATASTROPHE'

As he hurried to catch an Aloha flight from Hilo to Honolulu, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Clift Tsuji worried yesterday about the possible impact on agricultural shipments as well.

"It's not an inconvenience, it's a catastrophe," Tsuji said. "It affects our whole quality of life."

Tsuji, D-3rd (S. Hilo, Puna, Kea'au), said he doesn't believe the steps being contemplated by the state Legislature right now will be enough to rescue Aloha in the long run, and said he personally would support a special session to help Aloha if lawmakers and Gov. Linda Lingle can devise a workable rescue plan.

Takamine said his experience with the Hamakua Sugar bankruptcy on the Big Island taught him that it is the bankruptcy court that will decide what is possible in terms of a state bailout.

"Not only are we very concerned, but we feel that we want to be supportive, and we're all in this together," Takamine said. "However, I think we'll have to wait and see what options are defined by the bankruptcy court."