Mesa Air Group seeks to buy name of failed Aloha Airlines

Mesa Air Group, a commercial aviation holding company with headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, the United States, is attempting to buy the name of Aloha Airlines.

If the attempt made at a hearing that started in a US Bankruptcy Court at Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 2, 2008, becomes successful, Mesa Air Group, which operates the inter-island carrier go! in Hawaii, will re-brand go! under the Aloha name.

Aloha Airlines, headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, the United States, was operating from a hub at Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii. Aloha Airlines ceased operations on March 31, 2008, after 61 years in business and just weeks after declaring bankruptcy. Executives of Aloha Airlines had blamed high cost of aviation turbine fuel and an aggressive fare war initiated by the go! airline –which began flying on June 9, 2006 – for Aloha’s collapse.

Aloha Airlines, with over 3,500 employees, was Hawaii’s state’s second largest carrier until it wound up.

Aloha Airlines and go! had started off as competitors. And, if the bid by Mesa Air Group succeeds, go! will be re-branded using Aloha Airlines’ designs, colours and, most importantly, its name-recognition.

Mesa Air Group operates three regional airline subsidiaries – Mesa Airlines, Freedom Airlines, and Air Midwest, and five supporting subsidiaries. It operates flights under the Mesa Airlines and go! brands, or under contract in accordance with several codeshare agreements as US Airways Express, United Express, and Delta Connection.

Media reports said that Mesa Air Group had reached an agreement in the last week of November 2008 with Yucaipa Cos., former majority owner of Aloha Airlines, to use the Aloha name. The settlement, announced on November 28, 2008, would end a lawsuit filed by Aloha Airlines claiming that Mesa Air Group misused confidential information to force Aloha Airlines out of business.

Though Mesa Air Group admitted no wrongdoing, it agreed to make a cash payment of $2 million, issue Mesa’s common stock equal to 10% of its current outstanding shares, and provide inter-island travel benefits to former employees of Aloha Airlines.

In another related development, the media reports said, Mesa Air Group awarded, on November 29, 2008, the contract for passenger and ground handling services of go! to Aloha Contract Services.

Aloha Contract Services, formerly a part of Aloha Airlines, was bought in May 2008 by Pacific Air Cargo, which has offices in Honolulu and Los Angeles.

A top official of go!, the airline which operates up to 60 inter-island flights a day, was quoted by the media as commenting: “go! expects passenger traffic to increase, as determination plus Aloha Airlines’ reputation will equal nothing but success. If everything goes as planned, go! will start operating exclusively as Aloha Airlines within 90 days.”