Aloha to Aloha

It has been in the national and the local news: Aloha Airlines is no longer one of Hawaii's passenger airlines. This is terrible for the employees of the airline who have shown Aloha and loyalty beyond what you could expect from people who had already been through bankruptcy two years ago.

There is probably no one in Hawaii who does not have a personal connection. In an earlier life, when we were in account management at Milici Valenti, Aloha was our account.

We were there in the days when Aloha had the best on time record in the nation. We were there when Aloha "invented" first class for neighbor island airlines, even though the rest of the plane still had what one of our friends calls "festival seating." We were there when Aloha made twice the profit on half the revenue of its chief, and really only,competitor. We were there when Aloha changed its livery from the funky Mauna Kea-like bathroom stickup flowers to the lipstick slash of paint.

We were there the day Aloha had the accident -- when the roof ripped off the plane, and one of the flight attendants lost her life. Aloha handled that horrific experience with amazing preparedness. We were proud to represent Aloha Airlines. We are so sorry to see them gone, and our prayers are with everyone who worked for Aloha and their families.