Aloha shuts down cargo operation; 400 out of work; Neighbor Island freight grounded
Aloha Airlines abruptly shut down its cargo operation on Monday, cutting off nearly 85 percent of air shipments between Oahu and the Neighbor Islands.
Nearly 400 employees are affected by the shutdown. It's not clear whether other interisland airlines have the capacity to carry the thousands of tons of mail, newspapers, food, pharmaceuticals and perishable farm products Aloha Airlines Cargo moves between the Islands each day.
The airline also carries packages for FedEx, UPS and DHL.
The unexpected decision by Aloha to ground its cargo planes came during a hearing in federal bankruptcy court in Honolulu on the question of whether Aloha's pilots could strike the cargo operation.
Aloha lawyer Paul Singerman told PBN there was a purchase agreement pending for the cargo operation but that it hadn't been completed. He said he expected that Aloha's main lender, GMAC, wouldn't continue financing the airline no fax payday loans. That moved the court case from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding to a Chapter 7 in which a trustee is appointed to oversee the sale of assets.
A person who answered the telephone at Aloha Airlines Cargo said she had been told the business was shut down immediately because the lender had cut off financing.
"We're not accepting any new shipments," she said.
Aloha shut down its passenger business on March 31 and planned to sell its cargo and ground-services businesses, both of which were profitable. The ground-services business was sold last week to Pacific Air Cargo but continued disputes over the status of the 300 Aloha pilots made the sale of the cargo business more problematic.