Story from the "Spirit of Aloha" inflight magazine Sept/Oct. 2005 Mahalo!
By: David A. Banmiller
President and Chief Executive Officer

Touched by the Aloha Spirit


Airlines has been flying Hawai‘i’s skies for nearly 60 years, providing a brand of service distinguished by the Island-style tradition that gives us our name. Being relatively new to Hawai‘i, I bring fresh eyes to what many of you have experienced for so long—that essential characteristic of Island living called aloha.

One of the first things you learn when you settle in Hawai‘i is that aloha is not just a greeting or a catch-phrase designed to please tourists. It’s a way of life.

I’ve come to understand that the aloha spirit is deeply ingrained in Hawai‘i’s people. While it stems from the Polynesian cultural values of the Hawaiian race, it is very much a part of the multiracial melting pot of these Islands. You experience it every day in Hawai‘i and at Aloha Airlines when you meet people who are genuinely polite, thoughtful, kind and caring.

Recently, one of our veteran flight attendants shared with me how she has been touched by the aloha spirit of her co-workers, and I was moved to share her story with you.

Born and raised in Hawai‘i, Na‘i McCarthy has been flying with us for 31 years. In March of this year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her doctors decided that her treatment would require a course of chemotherapy, followed by seven weeks of radiation. This would take her away from her job at Aloha for six to eight months.

But here’s the real story, which comes from the very heart of Aloha Airlines: the people who make Aloha the airline that it is today.

Aloha has a vacation-donation program that enables our flight attendants to donate one to three days of vacation leave to co-workers who will be out for an extended period. Na‘i says her colleagues have donated enough months to cover her way beyond her treatment time. In addition, an Aloha Meals on Wheels has been created by one of the flight attendants, herself a cancer survivor. Pilots have also stepped in to help. One of our captains paid for Na‘i’s wig without her knowing. Still others have donated time to pick up her daughter from school, and deliver food as well.
As Na‘i puts it, “Aloha consists of an attitude of the heart. It is the unconditional desire to help other people in a friendly spirit, out of a sense of kinship. My co-workers are people who live aloha, from an unselfish heart. And I get to work alongside them. What a privilege. What an honor!”
Na‘i goes on to say: “I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of aloha. I am humbled to be a recipient of this kind of love, and all of this has a significant place in my healing.”
Na‘i is not the only one of our employees who is undergoing cancer treatment. I wish her and all of them a speedy and complete recovery, filled with the aloha spirit.

In the six decades since this company was founded, Aloha’s family of employees has come together time and again to help each other and others in the community in their time of need. Ten years ago, Aloha employees came up with this service goal: “In keeping with our name and our tradition, each of us at Aloha Airlines is committed to providing exceptional service by exemplifying the aloha spirit in all that we do.”
Our standards and service manual describes respect for all customers as another aspect of aloha: “Treating a person with respect involves courtesy, empathy, friendliness, warmth and genuine caring. Respect for others is the essence of the aloha spirit and the foundation for exceptional service.”
Aloha strives for this every day, on the ground and in the air. Please let me know how we are doing.