Joining forces - Hawaii Business

Mesa Air Group, parent of go!, is getting more lift in Hawaii's tough airline market, and it's taking struggling Mokulele Airlines along for the ride.

[habut]

I will NEVER fly anything to do with go ! airlines .

[Captain Moe]

Mokulele's demise was predicted so with this merger its GO-ing along for the ride. Those former Aloha Airlines employees working for Mokulele now will be directly working for a airlines that some say put Aloha out of business. The airlines business is so unstable that things change daily. How ironic that GO is still around when so many hope that it would GOaway.
GO says it will keep most of Mokulele employees and I hope they keep their words.

away

[follow the money]

Strange bedfellows!

As reported in MarketWatch today...

"Mesa, which launched go! in June 2006, and Mokulele had joined forces in 2007 to serve smaller Hawaii airports. But they were at odds a year ago when Mokulele announced an alliance with Republic Airways to fly Embraer 170 jets.

Indianapolis-based Republic has invested more than $11 million in Mokulele and is a 50 percent shareholder in the Hawaii company.

Mesa then sued Mokulele for allegedly failing to pay nearly $400,000 in fuel expenses.

Mokulele also sued Mesa, alleging the company engaged in anticompetitive behavior. The suit claimed Mesa threatened to drive Mokulele out of business by choking off revenues owed under a code-share agreement with the two carriers."

[willie]

"As part of the deal, Republic will forgive Mokulele's $3.1 million in debt. Mokulele shareholders will fund up to $1.5 million to capitalize the merged company."

So 2.5% of the shareholders will fund 100% of the capitalization? Good move Ornstien, screw a whole new bunch of folks.

Got a flash for ya, those 50K a month Mokulele passengers will probably NOT be flying with you...

[Porn Air]

"I don't think that the labor piece will be as big a piece as people think," Ornstein said. "The vast majority of Mokulele employees will continue to have jobs."

We suddenly care about jobs in Hawaii John? After destroying 3500 of them? Come on show them who you really are!

Interesting that the media somehow indicates they too are now concerned about jobs in Hawaii. I remember Segal saying that Ornstein was the best thing to happen since the discovery of poi.

go! gets off to smooth beginning
By Dave Segal June 10, 2006
[e-mail]

Eleven-year-old Taylor Anama, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, stood at the top of the plane's stairwell for a few moments, squinting into the morning sun before making her way down to the tarmac.

And with go! officials and the media looking on, the new interisland airline's first passenger officially had landed.

It was a whirlwind day for two of Hawaii's interisland carriers yesterday. As go! was celebrating its successful glitch-free debut at the Honolulu Airport commuter terminal and neighbor island airports, Aloha Airlines was handling 1,600 people statewide who showed up for a free giveaway of 1,000 round-trip tickets.

"I think the day went really flawlessly, certainly in consideration it was our first day of operations," said Jonathan Ornstein, chairman and chief executive of Mesa Air Group Inc., the Phoenix-based parent of go!

Ornstein said he and go!'s crew were touched by comments from some of the passengers.

"Business was great," said Ornstein, noting that most of the flights on the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200s were more than 90 percent full. "But hearing the passengers say that they were traveling for the first time in years interisland to visit their friends and family makes you feel pretty good. I think it really affected me and affected other people who heard it. It was an incredible experience for me today."

Shame ....Shame..........

[A S Poiled Child]

A-Hunk-A GokuLeLe

[Historian]

How quickly we forget the high air fares and lack of seats back in 2003 - 2005 when Aloha and Hawaiian teamed up and raped Hawaii residents.

Will the "dominant" and very pofitable Hawaii based airline add seats and "kill go!"?

Many in the airline industry seriously doubt that. Why kill a weak competitor?

[davesegalsucks]

Ornstein is a liar. The Mokulele employees are going to lose their jobs anyway. Now is the time to walk off the job with pride. Tell Ornstein to go to hell and remind Hawaii's visitors that in Hawaii we DONT FLY GO.

[local]

Why do investors think that 3 airlines can make it in Hawaii? It never did work over the years and now this. I knew this was going to happen before they Mokulele took off on their first flight. I'm glad Go and Mokulele is merging to keep most of their employees employed.

[bus stop]

here we go again...

[Good Move]

I like go! especially when I was ripped off by both Aloha and Hawaiian when they both had the market cornered and were arrogant and insolent in their treatment toward us regular, ordinary inter-island customers.

Now, mind you, I grew up on Aloha and Hawaiian...but something happened with them over the years---too cocky and their attitude became "you no like it, swim interisland, ha, ha, ha."

Well, go! came in and began to kick their _ss and it benefitted the consumer.

I know some of the Aloha employees blamed go! because the CUSTOMERS decided to fly go! YOU employees are to blame NOT go! If you folks had a wised up and given us SERVICE instead of attitude, you might still be in business!

And then you have the small minded, territorial, provincial "this is OUR Hawaii" asian immigrant descendants masquerading as indigenous too. The NERVE of you to say, oh we not going fly go! cuz they not "local." That's b.s.

Bottom line is this joint venture is SMART. The alliance will insure flying customers a choice besides Hawaiian that already PROVED they will take advantage of us if they (and fomerly Aloha too) had the chance to do so.

Negative criticism of "three airlines no can" is not your call.

Up to US if we like fly other than Hawaiian Air, NOT YOU.

[Brian]

Mokulele’s owners Republic Airlines must have realized they couldn’t make money with both go! and Hawaiian in the market.

[sdb1147]

The new airlines will be called, GoMoke!

[grounded]

I am with habut. While I had planned to fly Mokulele the next time I traveled, I will never fly go.

[anobody]

Most of Maui's agents and ground crew lost there job ,being that Go is run by Aloha Air Cargo.

[ex tourism]

What a farce! And how naive the press and the people of Hawaii really are. And by the way? go!
won't survive either.

[Traveler]

go!'s intent from the moment it came to Hawaii was to drive out competition. First it was Aloha and now Mokulele. This market cannot afford three airlines. To all other travelers, put your faith and travel money with Hawaiian Airlines. Let's make go! a very distant second banana.

[George Bush]

It's ironic that Aloha employees who worked for Mokulele are possibly going to be rescued by GO,Remember all you cry baby ex Aloha folks who said screw Go,now look at yourselves. I am not trying to be insensitive as I have been in your shoes before, but to blame Go is OUTRIGHT STUPID on Aloha's ex emplyees part,LOOK at the whole big picture, Aloha had a sleaze ball management team that got Aloha in trouble years and years before Go even entered the market.THINK ABOUT IT.

[Good]

grounded wrote:

I am with habut. While I had planned to fly Mokulele the next time I traveled, I will never fly go.

More for us.

In fact, go! has been the best kept secret. I no like you folks fly go!

All you folks keep hassling with the crowds at the main terminal, keep at it!

More people bumping into you, coughing at you in a timely passing manner engaging in cave-man biological war-fare with passive-aggressive and disingenuous "oh, so sorry" apologies after exposing you to their germs.

More TSA lines to slow you down and impede your progress, other people around hassling you, and checking you out: good fun, huh?

Yeah, stay with Hawaiian.

go! is junk. And they not "loco." (Eh, by the way, Hawaiian using the PI for their reservations. How "local" is that? This "local" argument is bogus.)

[taken advantage of]

Good Move wrote:

I like go! especially when I was ripped off by both Aloha and Hawaiian when they both had the market cornered and were arrogant and insolent in their treatment toward us regular, ordinary inter-island customers.
Now, mind you, I grew up on Aloha and Hawaiian...but something happened with them over the years---too cocky and their attitude became "you no like it, swim interisland, ha, ha, ha."
Well, go! came in and began to kick their _ss and it benefitted the consumer.
I know some of the Aloha employees blamed go! because the CUSTOMERS decided to fly go! YOU employees are to blame NOT go! If you folks had a wised up and given us SERVICE instead of attitude, you might still be in business!
And then you have the small minded, territorial, provincial "this is OUR Hawaii" asian immigrant descendants masquerading as indigenous too. The NERVE of you to say, oh we not going fly go! cuz they not "local." That's b.s.
Bottom line is this joint venture is SMART. The alliance will insure flying customers a choice besides Hawaiian that already PROVED they will take advantage of us if they (and fomerly Aloha too) had the chance to do so.
Negative criticism of "three airlines no can" is not your call.
Up to US if we like fly other than Hawaiian Air, NOT YOU.

You seem to be missing something. I agree Hawaiian and Aloha did seem to be a bit cocky and I too am a local. However, you seem to conveniantly forget that Aloha quickly went bankrupt after Go came to Hawaii after a short time after Go looked at its books under the disguise of a merger. Manipulative and coniving business practice. When Go knew Aloha was financially weak it entered the market alone. You assert that Aloha and Hawaiian kept ticket prices so high for so long; THEN HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN WHY ALOHA WENT BANKRUPT SO QUICKLY AFTER GO'S ARRIVAL? While price may have seemed high, they were only barely enough to keep Aloha flying. State did not want only one airline so Aloha was allowed to survive but when Go came, state didn't care which 2 airlines survived. I WILL NEVER FLY GO. It is a matter of principal. Too bad some are former Aloha workers which I sympathize with.