Hawaiian Air makes
case against bonus
for Gotbaum

Executives and others claim the ex-trustee
did little to help the airline emerge
from bankruptcy

Hawaiian Airlines says its former trustee overstated his role in the company's emergence from bankruptcy and is not entitled to any bonus -- least of all the $8 million he requested.

The airline, in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, accused Joshua Gotbaum of attempting to take credit for "virtually everything good that happened" during the bankruptcy proceedings.

"In reality, most of the good results achieved in this case were either not a result of the trustee's presence or were achieved in spite of his presence," Hawaiian's attorneys wrote.

Over his two years as trustee of the bankrupt company, Gotbaum received $1.4 million in compensation and expenses.

Hawaiian, the state's largest carrier, emerged from bankruptcy on June 2.

The company also said it cannot afford Gotbaum's $8 million bonus request.

Gotbaum, who is now living in Washington, D.C., could not be reached. But he has earlier defended his fee request, pointing to the reorganization plan he put together that he said repaid creditors in full and allowed existing stockholders to keep their shares.

Hawaiian Airlines, as well as executives and creditors, challenged Gotbaum's view of his role in the company's recovery in reports filed Thursday.

The company's unsecured creditors' committee called his fee application "a work of fiction."

Gotbaum's claims that creditors were paid in full are untrue and overlook the significant concessions creditors made, the committee said.

Many of the key operational elements that helped the company get out of bankruptcy already were in place -- including a positive cash flow -- when Gotbaum arrived, wrote Mark Dunkerley, the company's president and CEO.

"Gotbaum did not initiate any of the operational decisions he lists. Gotbaum had little or no involvement in the formation of such operational decisions," Dunkerley wrote.

As trustee, Gotbaum failed in the role of CEO because he was despised by his entire work force, which is the most basic test of leadership, the company said in its filing.

"The trustee recognizes that he is held in low esteem by at least the union representatives, but erroneously argues that this is solely because he did the 'dirty work' of demanding concessions," the company said.

The federal office that hired Gotbaum also has called his request for an $8 million "success fee" unreasonable.

Gotbaum's request, plus two years of compensation, works out to a rate of $1,832.50 an hour for the 4,995 hours he claimed to have worked on the case, the Office of the U.S. Trustee said.