Unable to find a buyer and running out of cash, Hawaii’s ubiquitous Aloha Airlines is shutting down operations after today, idling 1,900 workers and ending more than six decades of island-hopping and transpacific flights, the Honolulu Advertiser reports. The airline filed for bankruptcy March 20 because of rising fuel prices and fierce competition from startup go! airlines.
Aloha, Hawaii’s second-largest carrier, operated some 700 interisland flights and 120 flights to the mainland weekly. Aloha said it is working with code-share partner United Airlines to honor Aloha tickets, and Hawaiian Airlines said it would increase capacity and take as many Aloha passengers as it can for free through April 3. (More Aloha Airlines stories.)