Aloha Air posts operating loss

Aloha Airlines posted a net loss of $20.3 million in the first quarter of this year, though $13 million of that came from one-time reorganization expenses.

The privately held carrier, which emerged from 13 1/2 months of bankruptcy in February, said yesterday it paid $5.3 million more in fuel costs during the first three months of this year compared with the year-earlier period.

Aloha, required to file quarterly data with the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics, had a first-quarter operating loss of $4.4 million, according to preliminary numbers released this week by the agency.

Aloha said yesterday that if fuel expenses had remained the same as the year-ago period, it would have had an operating gain of about $1 million last quarter.

Revenue decreased 8.3 percent to $98.2 million from $107.1 million a year earlier while operating expenses fell 8.7 percent to $102.7 million from $112.5 million. In the first quarter of 2005, Aloha had a net loss of $6 million and an operating loss of $5.4 million.

The latest quarterly results cover a period before Aloha began facing off with Mesa Air Group's go! and Hawaiian Airlines in an interisland fare war. Aloha and Hawaiian have matched the $39 one-way fares initiated by go!, and Aloha also fought back earlier this month by giving away 1,000 free round-trip tickets at state airports.