Shutdown to leave void, but economic impact looks small

[story]: "Paul Brewbaker, economist for Bank of Hawaii, said he expects Aloha's disappearance from the passenger business will eventually be replaced with service from other airlines if there is money to be made."

But the planned increases by Hawaiian and go! will only replace about 56,000 of those seats. Hawaiian, the No. 1 interisland carrier, and No. 3 go! plan to boost their weekly seat offerings by 42,000 and 14,000, respectively.

She said Aloha played a smaller role in carrying people to and from the Mainland and that it appears existing carriers should be able to absorb Aloha's passenger shutdown easily.

"They are relatively small and the timing is such that this is the slower season for Hawai'i (tourism)," Iboshi said.