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Aloha cuts
interisland
flights 8%

Fifteen workers have
been laid off as a result
of the reduction

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By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Aloha Airlines has trimmed its interisland service by about 8 percent in what it said was a response to reduced demand.

The airline is now flying about 165 flights a day among the islands, down from about 180, Julie King, an Aloha spokeswoman, said today.

"We've noticed a trend. The (interisland) market has been very soft," she said. Also contributing to the decision to cut service now was a normal fall-off in traffic at the end of the peak holiday season, King said.

The drop in interisland business also brought some layoffs, she said, with 15 employees losing their jobs, about half of 1 percent of the airline's total of 2,800 workers.

No pilots or flight attendants were affected, she said. The cuts were in a range of jobs throughout the islands and all directly related to the service reduction, King said.

A total of 59 positions were eliminated but some had been empty through retirements and other normal attrition. King said some workers were furloughed, putting them off the payroll for now with a chance to come back later.

She said jobs could open soon in areas of the airline's operations other then interisland service, such as passenger-handling services that Aloha provides to other airlines that do not have their own ground staff in Hawaii.

"You may see ads in the paper for more employees to handle cargo and contract services" and those who were furloughed will have a chance at those jobs, she said.

Aloha's operations other than interisland are doing well, King said.

"We're launching Las Vegas. Oakland is doing very well," she said. Aloha launched Honolulu-Oakland and Maui-Oakland flights last February and will extend those to Las Vegas Feb. 14.