Air Hawaii and Rainbow Airlines took off wing tip to wing tip in balloting for our Name that Airline contest. But Rainbow hit a small head wind and Air Hawaii landed ahead by a handful of votes. Air Hawaii takes the prize
Merger called offStar-Bulletin staff
Far fewer readers participated in the voting portion of our effort to help name the entity that would result if the merger between Aloha and Hawaiian is approved than sent in entries during the nominating process.
Air Hawaii won with 33 votes, edging out Rainbow's 29 supporters. Birds of Paradise was third with 11 votes and Ohana Airlines and Pacific West Airlines each captured three.
Greg Brenneman, the former Continental Airlines executive who is spearheading the merger, was unavailable to comment on the results of the contest.
All participants in both phases of the contest were entered in a drawing for a five-day trip to Las Vegas.
The winner was Erma Alana, who nominated Rendezvous Airlines.
The single mom from Kapolei was a bit disappointed at the winning name.
"Kind of boring," she said.
She picked Rendezvous in a marathon session with her niece and nephew in which they went through the alphabet and came up with a bunch of ideas.
"I was thinking of that movie, 'An Affair to Remember,' people coming together. I though that would be nice," she said.
Alana, 42, has been to Las Vegas three times and didn't vote in the contest because she just got back from her most recent trip.
"I'm kind of figuring out if I need to move there," she said. Recently unemployed, Alana said her sister lives in Vegas and keeps telling her about job opportunities there.
She said she would be sorry to see Aloha and Hawaiian merge, but sees it as an economic necessity.
"It's really sad," she said. "They had their own identities, you know, and people could identify, but a lot of things are changing out there and cannot help."
