• Remember the Alakai? • True tragedy of loss of Aloha • Bushbot-deadender smears • Republican hogwash deadly Remember the Alakai? Aloha Airlines is currently not flying and bankrupt due in part for many reasons including competition. Competition came in
• Remember the Alakai?
• True tragedy of loss of Aloha
• Bushbot-deadender smears
• Republican hogwash deadly
Remember the Alakai?
Aloha Airlines is currently not flying and bankrupt due in part for many reasons including competition. Competition came in and offered better prices and in my opinion friendlier service. Not to rub it in, but Aloha was lacking what their name implied.
Less competition means the remaining carriers will most logically raise their fares. Without competition it is the consumer who is going to feel rate increases.
Remember the “Alakai”? The alternative method of interisland travel that so many protested?
Ironically, the name Alakai means “by the sea,” implying we may all need alternative means of transportation, not just by the air.
The Superferry is now in dry dock going through maintenance and repairs. I highly recommend we welcome her back with open arms, since without Aloha Airlines and the Superferry running, it will be a holiday for go! and Hawaiian Airlines.
Please welcome back with open arms the voluptuous Alakai Superferry for without competition it is the consumer who loses in the long run.
Kimo Rosen
Kapa‘a
True tragedy of loss of Aloha
The loss of jobs for the employees of Aloha Airlines is one of the worst events to happen, not just to the employees and their families, but to the entire state of Hawai‘i. Is it a sign of our times that a once proud airline could be put out of business because of greed?
The answer to that question appears to be yes. First, there is the issue of greed amongst the powers controlling the oil industry. It is said that the net profit of some of the oil companies given the current price of crude is in the neighborhood of $5 million an hour, 24/7, 365 days a year.
That comes at a time when the average citizen is barely able to put food on the table, keep the kids in school, much less put gas in the tank of their auto. Something is going to give and it won’t be pretty.
Second issue of greed concerning the demise of Aloha is Mesa Airlines, also known as go! Airlines. Here is a company that is a cancer infecting the entire airline industry. Mesa is well known to be the worst airline when judged on the merits of employee pay, benefits, working conditions and ability to retain their employees because of these factors. Their CEO is bar none, one of the most ruthless individuals on the planet when it comes to unscrupulous business practices. He took advantage of the knowledge of operating costs when he posed as an interested investor in both Hawaiian and Aloha and then turned around and used that information to launch go! and practice predatory pricing to put the squeeze on both Hawaiian and Aloha — which, as we’ve seen, resulted in the demise of Aloha. Some may say that maybe it should be that only the strong should survive in business. Consider what is likely to happen to the airfares in the state of Hawai‘i now that Jonathan Ornstein has run Aloha out of business. I can guarantee he will not be willing anymore to see to it that you can go anywhere in the state of Hawai‘i for $19 and sometimes $1.
Think about it … a cab ride from Honolulu Airport to Waikiki one way is $60. Anywhere in the state on go! for $19 bucks? Can’t be done at that price. The only reason those fares were out there was to get rid of one or both of the interisland airlines so he could come and rape your wallet. All of the people who rode on go! helped put Aloha out of business. Everybody knows things are out of control. This travesty of go! being able to come into the interisland market and put the screws to Aloha, as well as the oil companies putting the screws directly to all of us are just two more examples. If things don’t somehow change in our society we are headed for chaos.
Bill Chamberlain
United Airlines pilot
Bushbot-deadender smears
John Burns’ recent letter continuing the Bush Administration and Bushbot-deadender smearing of Joe and Valerie Wilson is a prime example of the dishonesty of this group of hardcore Republicans (“I spy a functionary,” Letters, April 1).
The details of the outing of Valerie Plame-Wilson are far too long to put in these pages but I would urge anyone truly interested to spend some time reading Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s statement at the time of Scooter Libby’s indictment or the Wikipedia article on the subject.
Here’s a brief excerpt from Fitzgerald (a conservative Republican prosecutor):
“Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer. In July 2003, the fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer was classified. Not only was it classified, but it was not widely known outside the intelligence community. Valerie Wilson’s friends, neighbors, college classmates had no idea she had another life. The fact that she was a CIA officer was not well-known, for her protection or for the benefit of all of us. It’s important that a CIA officer’s identity be protected, that it be protected not just for the officer, but for the nation’s security. Valerie Wilson’s cover was blown in July 2003.”
Burns presents a few stray facts as if they were the whole story. A bit like his “Dear Leader” when he gave us part of the story and embellished us into a 5-year-plus war in Iraq that will cost us over 4,000 lives and $1 trillion or more when we were promised a cakewalk to be paid for with Iraq’s oil revenues in order to prevent “mushroom clouds.”
Whether or not the outing of Plame met the intricacies of the law protecting covert agents, the acts of our top government officials designed to destroy someone’s career to intimidate their spouse is beyond shameful. If this is what being a Republican means, we should all think on that.
There’s a reason you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in court. Anything less is fundamentally dishonest.
Even Colin Powell, a key member of the pro-war sales force, has the good grace to sit silently and no longer support this crowd. Too bad the rest cannot follow his lead now.
David Camp
Anahola
Republican hogwash deadly
On Tuesday, John Burns wrote (“I spy a functionary,” Letters, April 1): “It is remarkable that the Democrats continue to swallow the Grade A hogwash peddled by Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson.”
I’m just curious what the grade of hogwash is that the Republicans continue to swallow that is spewed forth by the Bush administration.
Over 1 million people dead and you are picking on Democrats for what? Plame-Wilson might have made a comfortable living “shilling” for the left but nobody died because of it. I don’t think they’ve awarded any no-bid contracts to their friends either. But, what do I know? I could be wrong. Its just an opinion.
Roger Olsen
Lawa‘i
