When Did Aloha Airlines Shut Down?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the defunct passenger airline. For the surviving cargo airline, see Aloha Air Cargo,

Aloha Airlines

IATA	ICAO	Callsign
AQ	AAH	ALOHA

/td> Founded July 26, 1946 ; 76 years ago (as Trans-Pacific Airlines) Commenced operations July 26, 1946 ; 76 years ago Ceased operations March 31, 2008 ; 14 years ago Hubs Honolulu International Airport Focus cities Kahului Airport Frequent-flyer program AlohaPass Alliance

Island Air

United Airlines

Subsidiaries

Aloha Air Cargo
Aloha Pacific Air

Aloha Contract Services
Island Air

Fleet size 22 Destinations 20 Parent company Aloha Air Group Headquarters Honolulu, Hawaii Key people

Ruddy Tongg (Co-Founder)

Richard C Tongg (Co-Founder)
David Banmiller (President & CEO)

Website alohaairlines.com

Aloha Airlines was an American airline headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, operating from a hub at Honolulu International Airport (now Daniel K. Inouye International Airport ). Operations began on July 26, 1946, and ceased operations on March 31, 2008.

Why did Aloha Airlines fail?

Price war, fleet age, and fuel prices – One year before it filed for bankruptcy, Aloha Airlines was Hawaii’s tenth largest private employer. Unfortunately, the raging price war, along with an aging fleet ever more expensive to maintain and soaring fuel prices, all conspired to leave a struggling Aloha without buyers or investors.

When did Aloha retire?

Jet engine era – Aloha Boeing 737-200 at Honolulu in May 1981 Aloha Pacific DC-10-30 at Taipei Airport in July 1984 A former Aloha Boeing 737-700WL in storage in Southend Airport, England, after the airline’s 2008 demise Aloha retired its last DC-3 on January 3, 1961, becoming the second airline in the United States to operate an all-turbine fleet. In 1963, the airline took delivery of two Vickers Viscounts from Austrian Airlines and soon acquired a third from Northeast Airlines,

The October 1, 1964, cover of the airline’s system timetable proclaimed ” Hawaii’s Only All Jet Power Service Between The Islands ” as Aloha was operating all of its inter-island flights at this time with the Fairchild F-27 and Vickers Viscount turboprops.
Soon, the airline made the move to pure jets, with its first new British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twin jet arriving in Honolulu on April 16, 1966.

The last F-27 was retired from service in June 1967. As Hawaiian Airlines took delivery of larger Douglas DC-9-30 jets, Aloha realized its smaller BAC One-Eleven series 200 aircraft, which also suffered from performance penalties at Kona International Airport, put it at a disadvantage.

Aloha placed an order for two Boeing 737-200 jetliners in 1968. Named “Funbirds,” the Boeing jets entered service in March 1969. The massive capacity increase hurt both airlines, and in 1970, the first of three unsuccessful merger attempts between the two rivals (the others coming in 1988 and 2001) was made.

In October 1971, the airline sold its remaining Viscount 745 turboprop aircraft and became an all-jet airline. In 1983, Aloha introduced its AlohaPass frequent flyer program. In 1984, the airline leased a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 -30, and on May 28, inaugurated service with the aircraft between Honolulu, Guam, and Taipei under the name Aloha Pacific,

The operation, however, was unable to compete with Continental Airlines, and was discontinued on January 12, 1985.

In October 1985, Aloha acquired Quick-Change 737 aircraft that could be quickly converted from a passenger configuration to all-cargo freighter for nighttime cargo flights.
In February 1986, Aloha began weekly flights between Honolulu and Kiritimati (Christmas Island), becoming the first airline to operate ETOPS approved B737s.

In late 1986, Ching and vice-chairman Sheridan Ing announced plans to take the company private, and it remained in the hands of the Ing and Ching families until its emergence from bankruptcy in 2006, when additional investors including Yucaipa Companies, Aloha Aviation Investment Group, and Aloha Hawaii Investors LLC took stakes in the airline.

In 1987, the airline acquired Princeville Airways, renaming Aloha IslandAir, which became known as Island Air in 1995. In 2003, Island Air was sold to Gavarnie Holding and became an independent airline. On February 14, 2000, the airline began mainland service, flying newly delivered ETOPS certified Boeing 737-700 jetliners from Honolulu, Kahului, and Kona, Hawaii, to Oakland,

The carrier soon started regularly scheduled flights to and from Orange County, San Diego, Sacramento, Reno, and Las Vegas, Aloha also offered flights from Honolulu to Vancouver, In addition, the airline served the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport (BUR, now known as Bob Hope Airport ) in the Los Angeles area with nonstop Boeing 737-700 service to and from Honolulu.

What was the name of the plane that took off from Hawaii?

References –

^ “Aloha Airlines Flight 243, April 28, 1988”, Star-Advertiser, April 27, 2018, Retrieved May 9, 2018,
^ Hurley, Timothy (April 28, 2018). “Remembering Aloha Airlines Flight 243”, Star-Advertiser, Retrieved May 9, 2018,

^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t “Aircraft Accident Report, Aloha Airlines Flight 243, Boeing 737-100, N73711, Near Maui, Hawaii, April 28, 1998” (PDF), National Transportation Safety Board, June 14, 1989. NTSB/AAR-89/03, Retrieved February 5, 2016,
^ “737 Production List”,
^ “FAA Registry (N73711)”, Federal Aviation Administration,

^ “N73711 Registration History”,
^ Jump up to: a b Aloha Airlines Flight 243 incident report – AviationSafety.net, accessed July 5, 2014.
^ “FAA report” (PDF),

^ “Aloha Airlines Flight 243 pilot describes what happened when roof tore off plane”, May 9, 2014. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021 – via YouTube,
^ MacPherson, Malcolm (1998). “27”, The Black Box: All-New Cockpit Voice Recorder Accounts Of In-flight Accidents, Harper Paperbacks. pp.157–161, ISBN 978-0-688-15892-7,
^ “ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-297 N73711 Maui, HI”, aviation-safety.net, Retrieved June 2, 2017,

^ Cooper, Ann Lewis; Rainus, Sharon (2008). “Mimi Tompkins-Aftermath”. Stars of the Sky, Legends All: Illustrated Histories of Women Aviation Pioneers, Zenith Press. pp.138–140. ISBN 978-0-7603-3374-7,
^ The Honolulu Advertiser (2001). “Engineer fears repeat of 1988 Aloha jet accident”, Archived from the original on January 31, 2008, Retrieved February 6, 2008,
^ Russell, Alan; Lee, Kok Loong (2005). Structure-Property Relations in Nonferrous Metals, Wiley-Interscience.p.70. Bibcode : 2005srnm.book.R, ISBN 978-0-471-64952-6,

^ “The Aloha incident”, Archived from the original on August 22, 2006, Retrieved August 17, 2006,
^ “Hanging by a Thread”. Mayday, Season 3. Episode 1.2005. Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic Channel,
^ “Ripped Apart”. Mayday, Season 6. Episode 1.2007. Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic Channel,

^ Miracle Landing – 1990 TV movie at IMDb
^ “Cultural Gardens”, airports.hawaii.gov, Retrieved February 18, 2022,

When did Aloha start flying?

The October 1, 1964, cover of the airline’s system timetable proclaimed ” Hawaii’s Only All Jet Power Service Between The Islands ” as Aloha was operating all of its inter-island flights at this time with the Fairchild F-27 and Vickers Viscount turboprops.
Soon, the airline made the move to pure jets, with its first new British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twin jet arriving in Honolulu on April 16, 1966.

The operation, however, was unable to compete with Continental Airlines, and was discontinued on January 12, 1985.

In October 1985, Aloha acquired Quick-Change 737 aircraft that could be quickly converted from a passenger configuration to all-cargo freighter for nighttime cargo flights.
In February 1986, Aloha began weekly flights between Honolulu and Kiritimati (Christmas Island), becoming the first airline to operate ETOPS approved B737s.

In 1987, the airline acquired Princeville Airways, renaming Aloha IslandAir, which became known as Island Air in 1995.
In 2003, Island Air was sold to Gavarnie Holding and became an independent airline.
On February 14, 2000, the airline began mainland service, flying newly delivered ETOPS certified Boeing 737-700 jetliners from Honolulu, Kahului, and Kona, Hawaii, to Oakland,

What happened to Aloha Airlines?

Final fleet – At the time the Aloha airlines ceased operations, the airline’s fleet was an all- 737 fleet:

Aloha Airlines fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers	Routes	Notes
F	Y	Total
Boeing 737-200	13	—	127	127	Hawaii Inter-Island
Boeing 737-700	8	12	112	124	US Mainland
Boeing 737-800	1	12	150	162	US Mainland (primarily Kahului-Sacramento)	Leased from Transavia
Total	22

When did Aloha retire?

The October 1, 1964, cover of the airline’s system timetable proclaimed ” Hawaii’s Only All Jet Power Service Between The Islands ” as Aloha was operating all of its inter-island flights at this time with the Fairchild F-27 and Vickers Viscount turboprops. Soon, the airline made the move to pure jets, with its first new British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twin jet arriving in Honolulu on April 16, 1966.

Aloha placed an order for two Boeing 737-200 jetliners in 1968.

Named “Funbirds,” the Boeing jets entered service in March 1969.
The massive capacity increase hurt both airlines, and in 1970, the first of three unsuccessful merger attempts between the two rivals (the others coming in 1988 and 2001) was made.

The operation, however, was unable to compete with Continental Airlines, and was discontinued on January 12, 1985.
In October 1985, Aloha acquired Quick-Change 737 aircraft that could be quickly converted from a passenger configuration to all-cargo freighter for nighttime cargo flights.
In February 1986, Aloha began weekly flights between Honolulu and Kiritimati (Christmas Island), becoming the first airline to operate ETOPS approved B737s.

When did Aloha start flying?

The October 1, 1964, cover of the airline’s system timetable proclaimed ” Hawaii’s Only All Jet Power Service Between The Islands ” as Aloha was operating all of its inter-island flights at this time with the Fairchild F-27 and Vickers Viscount turboprops.
Soon, the airline made the move to pure jets, with its first new British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twin jet arriving in Honolulu on April 16, 1966.

Aloha placed an order for two Boeing 737-200 jetliners in 1968.
Named “Funbirds,” the Boeing jets entered service in March 1969.

The massive capacity increase hurt both airlines, and in 1970, the first of three unsuccessful merger attempts between the two rivals (the others coming in 1988 and 2001) was made.

The operation, however, was unable to compete with Continental Airlines, and was discontinued on January 12, 1985.

In October 1985, Aloha acquired Quick-Change 737 aircraft that could be quickly converted from a passenger configuration to all-cargo freighter for nighttime cargo flights.
In February 1986, Aloha began weekly flights between Honolulu and Kiritimati (Christmas Island), becoming the first airline to operate ETOPS approved B737s.

In 1987, the airline acquired Princeville Airways, renaming Aloha IslandAir, which became known as Island Air in 1995. In 2003, Island Air was sold to Gavarnie Holding and became an independent airline. On February 14, 2000, the airline began mainland service, flying newly delivered ETOPS certified Boeing 737-700 jetliners from Honolulu, Kahului, and Kona, Hawaii, to Oakland,

What happened to Aloha’s last DC-3?

Aloha placed an order for two Boeing 737-200 jetliners in 1968.
Named “Funbirds,” the Boeing jets entered service in March 1969.

The massive capacity increase hurt both airlines, and in 1970, the first of three unsuccessful merger attempts between the two rivals (the others coming in 1988 and 2001) was made.

The operation, however, was unable to compete with Continental Airlines, and was discontinued on January 12, 1985. In October 1985, Aloha acquired Quick-Change 737 aircraft that could be quickly converted from a passenger configuration to all-cargo freighter for nighttime cargo flights. In February 1986, Aloha began weekly flights between Honolulu and Kiritimati (Christmas Island), becoming the first airline to operate ETOPS approved B737s.