Airline War

Aloha Airlines filed bankruptcy on March 21st, after serving the public for more than sixty years. Competition from other Airlines was overwhelming for Aloha and now threatens to conquer Hawaiian Airlines as well. The battle of the airlines is affecting Hawaiians in particular because of three reasons: First, when travel is necessary flight is the only feasible option. Second, Mesa Airlines, the company that drove Aloha out of business, is competing to do the same thing to Hawaiian Airlines. And third, Hawaii’s economy is being affected by the loss of Aloha and the prospect of losing Hawaiian Airlines as well.

When planning a trip, either interisland or abroad, the only time effective choice of transportation is to fly. As Islanders, we do not have the option of driving, taking the Train, or riding in a Bus. Island to Island travel is possible by means of the Hawaii Super Ferry but takes three times as long, costs more and is very unreliable. Time is always of the essence when traveling. Most people do not want to have to spend three to four hours traveling by Ferry when they can fly in less than an hour. Not only does the Ferry take longer, it also costs more. Hawaii is a very expensive state to live in, so most people are trying to save money wherever they can. Last but not least, The Super Ferry is constantly failing to provide consistent service. This makes flying the obvious choice for both interisland and international travel.

Because flying is the only real option, Mesa airlines has used this scenario to its advantage by engaging in what Aloha Airlines president and CEO David Banmiller called “unfair competition” (Denver Post, March 30, 2008). Basically, what Mesa had done was lower their Ticket prices by as little as two dollars which eventually drove Aloha out of business. Most people will buy the ticket that cost them less, so more people bought tickets from Mesa

Airline Battle 3

Airlines, the fewer people bought from Aloha. Even though it is a sad day to have seen the demise of Aloha Airlines, competition like this is happening amongst most of the bigger companies in the World. After all, it is a “dog eat dog” world, where the strong prevail. Jonathan Ornstein, Mesa/Go CEO said “Mesa didn't plan to drive Aloha out of business” (USA Today, 2008). So it is possible that there were no bad intentions, but that does not change the fact that Aloha has suffered a great deal and it looks like Hawaiian Airlines could be next. Right now, Hawaiian and Go airlines are the only two providers of interisland travel which in all likelihood will amount to price hikes in the future. Peter Forman, author of the 2005 book "Wings of Paradise: Hawaii's Incomparable Airlines” predicts that go! And Hawaiian will increase their base fares