STAR-BULLETIN FILE
Hawaiian Airlines, operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reported a $7.7 million profit for the first six months of 2003.
Hawaiian Airlines filing
shows finances in blackThrough six months, the airline
reported a $7.7 million profit
Hawaiian Airlines, locked in a battle with its parent company over payments to keep Hawaiian Holdings Inc.'s stock afloat, may be showing signs of turning around its financial condition.
The carrier, which is in Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy, reported in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing made public yesterday that it had net income of $7.7 million for the first half of the year after earning $9.6 million last month. Last year, the airline was nearly $50 million in the red through the first six months.
Hawaiian's operating income for the first six months was $13.8 million after ending June with operating income of $10.7 million.
The company's cash position also improved over the preceding month as it ended June with $57,518 in cash and cash equivalents compared with $45,773 at the end of May. Hawaiian started the year with $71,907.
Hawaiian's load factor, which is the percentage of seats filled, was 81.9 percent in June for all scheduled and charter flights.
Meanwhile, Hawaiian Airlines trustee Joshua Gotbaum, who said he's solely focused on getting the airline through reorganization, is in New York today to deal with Hawaiian Holdings' suspended stock.
The stock was halted July 14 by the American Stock Exchange when transfer agent Mellon Investor Services Inc. resigned after an invoice was not paid by the parent company.
Former Hawaiian Airlines Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Adams, who still occupies those same titles with the holding company, was scheduled to meet with Gotbaum today to try to convince him that it was in the best interests of airline employees and shareholders to pay the holding company's bills. Adams is the controlling member of AIP LLC, which is Hawaiian Holdings' majority shareholder.
Gotbaum issued two letters to employees last week reaffirming his commitment to the airline and defending his position of not financially supporting the holding company.
"Bankruptcy is like flying through bumpy air: if everyone does their part and stays calm, we will get through it and land safely," Gotbaum wrote in a letter dated July 16.
The following day, Gotbaum wrote a second letter in which he said that the holding company "apparently has declined to pay its own bills to enable continued trading of its stock" and that he was not "authorized to use (Hawaiian Airlines) assets to pay liabilities of any other person or entity."
