STATEMENT OF MAYOR MUFI HANNEMANN

ON ALOHA AIRLINES

Mayor Mufi Hannemann today issued the following statement regarding Aloha Airlines’ announcement that it would be ceasing its passenger operations on Monday:

“This is a very troubling development that will have far-reaching consequences.  My heart goes out to the employees who have devoted their careers, and made so many personal sacrifices, to keep Aloha Airlines serving the people of Hawaii over the years.

“While the Legislature evaluates a financial assistance package—something on the order of what the state government did for Hawaiian Airlines when I was director of the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism—the City and County of Honolulu stands ready to assist with reemployment efforts for Aloha employees who are losing their jobs.

            “Our Oahu Worklinks program has been very successful in matching employers and job-seekers.  Meanwhile, we’ll do our part to step up recruitment of vacancies in the City workforce, vacancies that are open to all comers but which Aloha employees may find attractive.  In particular, we’re always looking for skilled tradesmen, clerical workers, and construction-related professionals, and perhaps the Aloha employees may help us fill jobs that have been difficult to fill in recent years.

            “We’ll also be looking for opportunities to partner with the private sector on developing solutions to what could be a major economic crisis.”