Cargo airline of the United States
Aeko Kula, LLC
, DBA
Aloha Air Cargo
, is an all-
cargo
airline in the United States, headquartered in
Honolulu, Hawaii
,
[3]
[4]
operating from a
hub
at
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
. Formerly
Aloha Airlines
, it became an independent cargo operator following the closure of
the passenger airline
in 2008.
History
[
edit
]
Aloha Airlines was formed in 1946 and expanded over the next few decades. It filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in the
United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Hawaii
in 2004 in an attempt to cut costs and remain competitive with other airlines serving Hawaii. Following approval of new labor contracts and securing additional investment from new investors, the airline emerged from bankruptcy protection on February 17, 2006. The airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection again on March 20, 2008.
[5]
Ten days later, on March 30, 2008, Aloha Airlines announced the suspension of all scheduled passenger flights, with the final day of operation to be March 31, 2008.
[6]
After the shutdown of passenger operations, Aloha and its creditors sought to auction off its profitable cargo and contract services division. Several companies expressed interest in purchasing Aloha's cargo division, including
Seattle
-based Saltchuk Resources,
California
-based Castle & Cooke Aviation, and Hawaii-based Kahala Capital (which included Richard Ing, a minority investor in the Aloha Air Group and member of Aloha's board of directors).
[7]
However, a disagreement between cargo division bidders and Aloha's primary lender,
GMAC
Commercial Finance, ended with the bidders dropping out of the auction.
[8]
Almost immediately afterwards, GMAC halted all funding to Aloha's cargo division, forcing all cargo operations to cease; at the same time, Aloha's board of directors decided to convert its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filing into a
Chapter 7
bankruptcy liquidation.
[8]
[9]
Aloha Air Cargo
Boeing 737-200C
.
Saltchuk Resources decided to renew its bid to purchase the cargo division at the urging of U.S. Senator
Daniel Inouye
, and a deal between Aloha and Saltchuk was struck and approved by the federal bankruptcy court, where Saltchuk would purchase the cargo division for $10.5 million.
[10]
The sale was approved by federal Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King on May 12, 2008, with the sale expected to close two days later.
[11]
Prior to its bid for Aloha, Saltchuk Resources was already present in
Hawaii
through its subsidiaries Young Brothers/Hawaiian Tug & Barge, Hawaii Fuel Network, Maui Petroleum and Minit Stop Stores. The company also owns
Northern Air Cargo
,
Alaska
's largest cargo airline. A new subsidiary,
Aeko Kula, LLC.
, was set up by Saltchuk to operate Aloha Air Cargo.
On May 15, 2008, the airline received its FAA and Department of Transport authority to operate as an independent airline. The airline went through a big transformation in the first two years of operation. The airline's first president, Mike Malik, rebranded the airline; launched a host of new products and services; and established "Aloha Tech Ops", the MRO division. During this time the airline won numerous awards and was named Hawaii's Cargo Airline of the year for 2008.
[12]
Destinations
[
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]
United States
[
edit
]
Hawaii
[
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]
California
[
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]
Washington
[
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]
[1]
Fleet
[
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]
The Aloha Air Cargo fleet consisted of the following aircraft, as of August 2016:
[13]
The airline fleet previously included the following aircraft (as of June 2014):
[15]
Incidents
[
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]
- October 16, 2014 - N301KH a Boeing 737-300F performing freight flight from Lanai, HI to Honolulu, HI experienced a cargo shift on take-off but the crew managed to control the aircraft and continued for a safe landing in Honolulu. The shifting cargo damaged the rear bulkhead. The incident was thought to have been caused by the cargo not being properly strapped to the floor.
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Norwood, Tom; Wegg, John (2002).
North American Airlines Handbook
(3rd ed.). Sandpoint, ID: Airways International. p. 9.
ISBN
0-9653993-8-9
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-11-28
. Retrieved
2018-10-13
.
- ^
"Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View"
.
av-info.faa.gov
. Retrieved
2019-06-27
.
- ^
"
Honolulu CDP, HI
Archived
2008-02-18 at the
Wayback Machine
."
U.S. Census Bureau
. Retrieved on May 21, 2009.
- ^
"
Locations
Archived
2009-05-22 at the
Wayback Machine
."
Aloha Air Cargo
. Retrieved on May 21, 2009.
- ^
Blair, Chad (March 20, 2008).
"Aloha Airlines files for second bankruptcy in 3 years, blames go! for losses"
.
American City Business Journals
.
- ^
McAvoy, Audrey (2008-03-30).
"Aloha Airlines halting passenger service"
.
BusinessWeek
. Archived from
the original
on May 23, 2011
. Retrieved
2008-04-25
.
- ^
Segal, Dave (2008-04-02).
"Turbulent aftermath"
.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-04-05
. Retrieved
2008-05-03
.
- ^
a
b
Segal, Dave (2008-04-29).
"Bidders drop out and funding halts"
.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-05-06
. Retrieved
2008-05-03
.
- ^
"Bankruptcy and Debt Relief"
.
- ^
Segal, Dave (2008-05-02).
"Return flight"
.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-05-06
. Retrieved
2008-05-03
.
- ^
Segal, Dave (2008-05-13).
"Court allows Seattle firm to buy Aloha's cargo division"
.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-05-17
. Retrieved
2008-05-14
.
- ^
Segal, Dave (2008-05-15).
"Aloha Air Cargo is 'official'
"
.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
. Retrieved
2008-08-14
.
- ^
"Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part Two)".
Airliner World
(November 2016): 37.
- ^
"N399CM Aloha Air Cargo Boeing 767-300"
.
www.planespotters.net
.
- ^
Gomes, Andrew (2008-04-01).
"Aloha's cargo unit still in business"
.
The Honolulu Advertiser
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-04-05
. Retrieved
2008-04-01
.
- ^
"Aloha Air Cargo leasing an ABX Air freighter for LAX flights"
. Retrieved
14 July
2016
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Forman, Peter (2005).
Wings of Paradise: Hawaii's Incomparable Airlines
. Kailua, HI: Barnstormer Books.
ISBN
978-0-9701594-4-1
.
- Young, Branden (July?August 2006). "Aloha Airlines: Ready to Protect Their Beachfront in Paradise".
Airliners: The World's Aviation Magazine
. Airliners Publications. pp. 35?39.
External links
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]