Aloha Air’s former chief
suffers heart attack

Also, the company’s CFO abruptly
resigns and a new chief restructuring
officer will be appointed next week

Glenn Zander, who stepped down as president and chief executive of Aloha Airlines in October after 10 years at the helm, suffered a heart attack early Tuesday at his home in Kennesaw, Ga.

Zander, who is in stable condition and in intensive care in a Georgia hospital, is being considered for bypass surgery early next week, Aloha said.

Also yesterday, the company said that Chief Financial Officer Jim Clarke resigned, effective immediately. He had been with Aloha since Dec. 2, 2003.

The 58-year-old Zander had stepped down from Aloha to spend more time with his wife, Gayle, who has been battling a rare form of cancer for several years. Zander was given the position of vice chairman at the time but has since relinquished that post.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Glenn and his family during this difficult time," said David Banmiller, who took over as president and CEO of Aloha in November.

While Aloha's employees were reeling with the news about their former boss, they were hit with another shock in the form of Clarke's sudden exit.

The company provided no reason for his departure and Clarke declined to elaborate other than to say he was notified yesterday.

"I have no idea yet what I'm going to do," Clarke said. "We hope to stay in Hawaii."

Banmiller said the airline will bring aboard a chief restructuring officer next week who has "a wealth of experience in steering companies through the bankruptcy process."

The new executive, who wasn't named, will oversee Aloha's day-to-day financial management as interim chief financial officer. A search will be conducted for a permanent CFO.

Aloha, which has been in Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy since late last year, has been seeking new investors while attracting interim financing and streamlining operations.

On Wednesday, the airline laid off 25 flights attendants, a result of a new contract that reduced the number of attendants on trans-Pacific flights to three from four. Layoffs had been expected but the exact number had not been known.

In addition, the company is laying off about 20 customer-service agents, who were notified about two weeks ago. However, seniority bumping rights could result in the customer service agents taking other positions and bumping others. The customer service layoffs also had been expected, after the company dropped two planes.

Aloha previously said it would lay off 79 mechanics because of the outsourcing of heavy-machinery work.

Aloha also said yesterday it has not made a decision yet on the sale of its contract-services division, which consists of nearly 1,000 employees, or more than a fourth of the 3,600-employee company. There are three bidders remaining.