Aloha's final flight 261 | The Honolulu Advertiser (2024)

A rowdy crowd of several hundred Aloha Airlines employees, airport workers, family members, friends and supporters greeted passengers and crew from Aloha Flight 261 after it touched down at Honolulu International Airport at 10:32 p.m. yesterday, the final regularly scheduled passenger flight for the "people's airline" that served Hawai'i for 61 years.

It was a flight like no other, and more than half of the 80 people aboard were Aloha employees who cheered, clapped, wept, sang and offered testimonials over the public address system during the 22-minute flight from Kahului. Most had boarded in Honolulu for a quick roundtrip to Maui.

Captain Mike Uslan, one of several Aloha pilots who accompanied family members on the flight, offered a toast of Pass-o-Guava juice in small plastic cups with the foil covers: "To Aloha — the last of the good airlines."

Uslan also offered a parting shot to rival go! airlines, which has been blamed for igniting an airfare war that contributed to Aloha's demise:

"For all your travel needs in the Hawaiian Islands, please fly Hawaiian! Don't fly go!"

Captain Mike Moore offered a toast "to friends, family and fond memories with Aloha."

Moore was to have piloted the last flight but relinquished the co*ckpit at the last minute to Darryll Wong, Aloha's most senior pilot, who joined the company in 1976.

Other crew members on Flight 261 were first officer Tasha Kobashigawa and flight attendants Renee Jewell, Steve Oshiro and Tori Swoish, who told passengers at the trip's conclusion, "It's the end of an era but I don't think anyone is going to forget us soon."

The airline's last paying passengers included Erika Pang Harrison and Sherry Saito of Pearl City, who said they decided on the spur of the moment to fly to Maui yesterday afternoon specifically to catch the last flight "and participate in history."

The two physicians said they couldn't get through to Aloha's reservation line, so they just showed up at Honolulu International Airport hoping to get seats.

Pang Harrison's husband, Bill, worked as an Aloha flight attendant while in college, and her sister, Monika Pang, is a 31-year flight attendant for the airline.

Saito also has strong ties to the airline. "Whenever it was family vacation, we all flew Aloha. It was always Aloha," she said.

Saito said she wanted to be on the last flight "for closure, to say goodbye to people and to thank them."

The two friends, who picked up Krispy Kreme doughnuts on Maui to bring back to Honolulu, took photos with Aloha flight crews and other employees they encountered throughout the day, and collected souvenirs such as ticket stubs and a plastic cup emblazoned with the Aloha logo.

"I feel sad but kind of excited to be participating. It's kind of like a piece of history," Pang Harrison said.

Another Flight 261 passenger, Rudy Savio, 24, of Honolulu, estimated he had flown on the airline 270 times and had kept a diary of all his plane travels since childhood.

Savio also owns an extensive collection of airline memorabilia, including old flight timetables, ticket jackets and 25 Aloha Airlines T-shirts.

"I've always loved flying every since I was a kid, and we've always flown Aloha so I've gotten attached to it," he said. "It's like the end of an era. It's important for me to be here. Aloha has been a big part of my life and I've become friends with a lot of the employees and I wanted to show my support on the last flight."

James Guzzo of Kailua, O'ahu, said he flew Aloha 400 times a year for his Endless Pools business. He flew in from Kona to board Flight 261.

"There's no way I was going to miss this," he said.

Those arriving at Honolulu Airport on the final flight were treated as returning heroes, as dozens of ramp workers waved and cheered when the Boeing 737-200 pulled up to the gate and all aboard received hugs and high-fives from the waiting crowd.

After an emotional rendition of "Hawai'i Aloha," the crowd had yet to disperse by 11:30 p.m., no doubt reluctant to bid aloha to co-workers and their careers.