61 percent don’t
want air merger

Anti-merger forces call
Bulletin-KITV poll
results "a landslide"

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

Hawaii residents are overwhelmingly opposed to a merger of Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian airlines, according to a new statewide poll.

But both the pro-merger and anti-merger proponents contend the results are on their side.

The poll of 601 people statewide, conducted by Market Trends Pacific Inc. for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and KITV-4, shows 61 percent against the merger, 19 percent in favor and 19 percent having no opinion. The margin of error is four percentage points.

Among those who oppose the merger, the most common reason is fear of higher fares. There is also concern about possible airline layoffs and reduced service.

Greg Brenneman, a former Continental Airlines president whose TurnWorks Inc. is putting together the deal together, said the fact that so many Hawaii residents support the merger is good news.

"I'm encouraged that after just a few weeks of discussion and community meetings about the merger and our fare and furlough offers that we've got almost 20 percent of the community supporting the deal," he said. "I'm convinced more will be supportive once they understand the details through the coming months."

Brenneman said mergers are always difficult, and very few people get comfortable with them in the early days of the news.

But Richard Port, a spokesman for a recently formed anti-merger organization Citizens for Competitive Air Travel, said the 61 percent opposition is a "landslide" against the merger.

Port, a former chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party and prominent member of the Save Our Star-Bulletin organization which pushed for the survival of the newspaper, said he believes the poll understates the opposition.

"We're not surprised by the poll because we have been collecting signatures on petitions. We find even a higher percentage than the poll shows are against it," he said. "We think that 60 percent-plus is a landslide" against the merger.

"The people of Hawaii have spoken, and they do not want a monopoly," Port said.

Brenneman said the proposed merger is under close scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice and the state Attorney General's Office, which are "spending a lot of time reviewing the merger and its effects on customers and the community."

"I'm confident they'll both find this merger has a lot of benefit to the people of the state," Brenneman said.