I always found Aloha Airlines name a little curious. I don’t want my airline saying hello and goodbye to me. Like Men In Black director and frequent Esquire Magazine contributor Barry Sonnenfeld, I consider “every airplane flight to be an unsuccessful suicide attempt” (and both Sonnenfeld and I fly a lot, though his travel is surely decidedly less commercial).

Given that, I don’t want to be reminded of any chance of goodbyes while in the sky.

Still despite any quibbles with their name, I found Aloha Airlines to be one of the better carriers in my recent experiences. Which makes Aloha’s sudden drop out of business this week no little blow for Hawaii travelers (and not just the ones who had future tickets and now found themselves depending on U.S. Airways’ standby goodwill). A bankruptcy court judge just rejected an appeal from Hawaii governor Linda Lingle to force the airline to keep operating.

So long, Aloha!

I flew Aloha direct in and out of Maui from the West Coast earlier this year, getting a much different experience than WorldGolf.com’s Brandon Tucker who apparently spent his life in overpriced, stale airport coffee shops on a recent Kauai journey. My trip couldn’t have been smoother with takeoffs and landings on time and flight crews that actually smiled at you.

This wasn’t the fake overeager, jokey we’re-hiding-safety-lapses grins of Southwest Airlines either. Instead it was a refreshing break in a post 9-11 world that’s made many major airline flight attendants think they have permission to display the demeanor of Nurse Ratched.

Aloha even had my golf bag on and off the plane in little wait time.

How often do you leave an airport happy with the airline? No wonder why Aloha couldn’t stay in business.

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