Bye Bye Aloha Air: How to Get Your Money Back

It’s a sad day in paradise.

Hawaii-based Aloha Airlines announced that it is shuttering it’s passenger service nowadays, less than two weeks after filing for bankruptcy protection. The total announcement can be found on the extremely depressing Aloha website.

If you’re holding reservations on Aloha, you’re obviously a little bit screwed, but there are ways to get your money back.

Find out how after the jump.

1. Visit the United Airlines website, or shout them at 1-800-UNITED1. United has a marketing agreement with Aloha, and will attempt to accommodate passengers.
2. Call your travel agent or credit card company and ask for a refund.
3. See whether Hawaiian Airlines can do anything for you. They’re offering
   free standby for Aloha passengers through Thursday. They have more info
   at their website.

Aloha began service in 1946 as Trans-Pacific Airlines. The airline
was launched as an alternative to the dominant Hawaiian Airlines, which
aviation experts say was known for it’s discriminatory hiring
practices, employing only Caucasian pilots and flight attendants.

The airline blames its closure on unfair competition from
Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group

. Mesa launched an airline called go! in
1996, offering $39 fares on Aloha and Hawaiian’s bread and butter
routes, and sparking a brutal fare war within the three airlines. How brutal? Aloha says it currently has only $900,000 of unrestricted cash in the bank, which is not a good place for an airline to be.

go!’s entry into the market was accompanied by much drama and
corporate intrigue, with Aloha and Hawaiian both accusing the airline
of gaining access to confidential financial and operational data
in an effort to drive them out of commerce. final year a
federal judge forced Mesa to pay  Hawaiian $80 million in damages.It’s worth noting that soon after the Aloha news broke, go!
announced that it will be nearly doubling it’s intra-island Hawaii flights. 

Many remember 1988’s dramatic in-flight accident involving an Aloha
737. A huge chunk of roof ripped off the plane mid-flight, leaving
terrified passengers literally flapping in the wind while the pilot
struggled to land.

Sources: USA Today, BizJournals

Image: Aloha Airlines

Original post by Dave Demerjian