Aloha Airlines timeline

Sources: "50 Years of Aloha: The Story of Aloha Airlines" and Star-Bulletin.

1946: Local publisher Ruddy Tongg organizes the hui Trans-Pacific Airlines as a charter carrier.

1958: Real estate developer Hung Wo Ching buys a 10 percent stake in the nearly bankrupt Trans-Pacific Airlines, renaming it Aloha Airlines. Ching serves as chairman of the publicly held company's board from the mid-1960s until he converts it to a private company in 1987.

1969: Begins flying Boeing 737 jets, replacing propeller-driven airplanes.

1970: Merger plan with Hawaiian Airlines falls through.

1986: Successfully fights off takeover attempt from Dallas-based CNS Partners, then goes private.

1988: Aloha and Hawaiian halt talks of a merger, in which Aloha expresses interest in acquiring Hawaiian.

1998: Aloha reduces its daily schedule by 10 flights to 168 interisland trips and announces a 5 percent reduction in its work force even as its privately owned parent, Aloha Airgroup Inc., reports its net profit jumped to $4.9 million from $1 million for the first nine months of the year.

2000: Launches first mainland flights, with service from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif.

2001: Attempted merger with Hawaiian. Aloha cuts interisland flights by 25 percent and lays off 250 workers. At the same time, the airlines receive their first multimillion-dollar installments from a federal aid package for airlines. In November, the competing airlines are granted an antitrust exemption that lets them coordinate schedules.

2002: Merger attempt with Hawaiian Airlines fails.

2003: Hawaiian files for bankruptcy.

2004: Aloha files for bankruptcy.

June 2005: Hawaiian emerges from bankruptcy.

September: Mesa Air Group, which had been a potential investor in the bankruptcy cases of both Aloha and Hawaiian, announces it will enter the interisland market on its own

Feb. 13, 2006: Hawaiian sues Mesa, alleging Mesa used confidential information obtained during Aloha's bankruptcy when deciding to enter the Hawaii market.

Feb. 17: Aloha emerges from bankruptcy

June 9: Mesa's go! starts interisland operations, offering $19 one-way fares; Aloha gives away 1,000 free tickets.

Feb. 20, 2007: Hawaiian announces it lost $40.5 million in 2006.

May 10: Aloha reports losing $41.5 million in 2006.

June 9: Mesa announces $1 fares to mark its one-year anniversary in the Hawaii market, the first of several $1 promotional fares.

Oct. 30: Court rules that Mesa used confidential information obtained during Hawaiian's bankruptcy, and orders Mesa to pay $80 million plus costs and attorneys' fees.

Nov. 21: Mesa posts a $90 million bond required to continue fighting the judgment against it in Hawaiian's lawsuit.

Feb. 14, 2008: Mesa's financial filings reveal its interisland operations had lost more than $26 million since startup.

Feb. 18: Oil prices close above $100 per barrel for the first time, adding to all airlines' fuel costs.

Feb. 28: Hawaiian Air surprises analysts with a $7.1 million profit for 2007.

March 20: Aloha files for bankruptcy for second time, blaming fuel prices and "predatory pricing" by go!, and reported it lost $81 million in 2007 and an additional $11 million in January.

March 28: The owner of Young Brothers interisland cargo barge service bids $13 million for Aloha's air cargo operation; Aloha seeks court permission for an auction.

March 30: Aloha announces it is shutting down passenger operations after March 31.