COURTESY BOWMAN FAMILY "It's going to be difficult emotionally and financially," said Glen Bowman, left, an Aloha Airlines pilot, with his wife, Shawna, and daughter, Makenna, now age 2. Shawna is a flight attendant for Aloha. The Bowmans have two other children.

‘Worry and expense’ dog people laid off by Aloha’s sudden closing

Aloha Airlines employees Glen and Shawna Bowman will have to find a way to pay their $5,000 monthly mortgage on their Hawaii Kai home now that their jobs are gone.

"That's our biggest worry and expense right now," said Shawna Bowman, a 15-year flight attendant.

Bowman was among more than 150 employees, family members and supporters who attended a rally yesterday outside the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in downtown Honolulu.

Glen Bowman, a pilot, was employed with Aloha Airlines for 10 years -- first as a first officer and then as a captain. His father, Allen Bowman, also worked as an Aloha Airlines captain for seven years before he moved to United Airlines.

Glen Bowman headed straight to the rally after making his last flight with the company from Oakland, Calif., to Honolulu.

"It's going to be difficult emotionally and financially," he said yesterday. The couple have three children.

Another couple, Valerie Chock and fiance Keliihoomalu Akiona, were blindsided by the announcement.

"We weren't prepared for it. It happened too fast," said Chock, who worked as part of the inside sales team in the executive office.

Chock and Akiona, a flight attendant, plan to marry on Sept. 6. The couple's monthly rent for their Aiea condominium is $1,150.

"We haven't had time to sit down and discuss what we're going to do as far as living arrangements. So we either might have to live back home with his parents or my parents," Chock said. "They're only right down the road from us, but still we don't want to inconvenience anybody."

Another prime concern is medical benefits, especially for their daughter, Pihaeu Akiona, who celebrates her first birthday in June.

Chock said she and her fiance plan to work full time as dancers for the Magic of Polynesia show in Waikiki as they look for other full-time jobs.

Both currently work part time as dancers for the show. "It's just hard because they don't really give the benefits like Aloha did as far as medical. We have to think about the baby," she said.

Tim Flournoy, a retired Aloha Airlines captain of 31 years, said, "Corporate America has no conscience anymore."

An internal company Web site notified employees that their health benefits with the company are expected to be terminated shortly. "We were not forewarned," he said.

His wife, Lianne, 60, a flight attendant for Aloha Airlines, would have made her 42nd anniversary with the company in two weeks. "It's going to be difficult to get the medical coverage we need," Flournoy, 67, said.

"Whatever happens to Aloha, we'll still have each other," he said.