billso.com

The Honolulu Star-Bullletin just posted this article:

Aloha Airlines will be shutting down its interisland and transpacific passenger flights beginning tomorrow, ending its 61-year service in Hawaii.

In a news release today, the company said United Airlines and other airlines will help accommodate passengers who have flights scheduled on Aloha after tomorrow. Aloha has stopped selling tickets for future flights.

I wonder if this will spur the state legislature into action? Last Thursday, Minnesota congressman James Oberstar implored Hawaii’s lawmakers to save Aloha Airlines, according to this Star-Bulletin article:

“The islands are so dependent on air travel. This is your taxi. This is your bus line. You essentially have to maintain this carrier for its competitive service and for the economic impact it means for Honolulu and the whole state.”

News coverage

These are articles that appeared later in the day, after I posted my article.

• The Honolulu Advertiser posted a shorter article here and a Q&A section later in the day. Ticket holders for flights on and after April 1 can sue in bankruptcy court for their refund, or check with their travel agent. One interesting note: all Aloha Airlines frequent flyer miles expire tomorrow, 31 March 2008, when the airline shuts down its AlohaPass program.
• Business Week
• Bloomberg
• Here’s KGMB’s article from its web site.
• CNN from the Associated Press
• The Huffington Post
• Los Angeles Times
• Washington Post from the Associated Press

The day after

Even Wired Magazine has mentioned the shutdown.

Both Honolulu newspapers had extensive coverage.

• Honolulu Star-Bulletin
• The Honolulu Advertiser redesigned its web site last week, and I cannot find the old archive feature. Here’s a link to today’s lead story.

When the FAA allowed airline pilots to carry guns, supporters claimed that armed pilots could be trusted. After all, pilots are responsible for flying multimillion dollar jets filled with people, right?

As Peter Biddle (via BoingBoing) points out, this logic is flawed because trust is not transitive. An airline pilot can have thousands of hours logged in the cockpit. Pilots receive only one week of training with their .40 caliber semiautomatic H&K USP sidearms. The two skills do not reinforce or relate to each other in any way. In fact, pilots may need several hundred hours experience with a weapon to develop safety skills that are as reliable as their flying skills.

So when a USAirways pilot blows a hole through his cockpit while trying to stow his handgun before landing his plane, as this AP story describes, no one should be surprised:

The pistol discharged shortly before noon Saturday aboard Flight 1536 from Denver to Charlotte, as the Airbus A319 was at about 8,000 feet and about 10 minutes from landing.

Here are some examples I just made up on my own. feel free to add your own as a comment!

• No sensible person would trust an astronaut to perform heart surgery, unless that astronaut were also an experience heart surgeon.
• Stunt performers may be brave, but that doesn’t make them great parents.
• Professors may be masters in their field, but that doesn’t mean they can use a computer. I still hear about professors who cannot answer their own e-mail!