Hawaiian Airlines May Be for Sale

Hawaiian Airlines Inc. said a financial advisor hired to weigh strategic alternatives has contacted potential investors or buyers for Hawaii’s largest airline, sending its shares up. Shares of Honolulu-based Hawaiian Airlines, which has had losses in the last two quarters, rose 25 cents to close at $2.31 on the American Stock Exchange. Before that, the shares had fallen 25% in the last year. “The stock is awful low, so if someone did make a move to acquire the company, it wouldn’t surprise me,” RedChip.com analyst Lantz Stringham said. The company’s biggest competitor is closely held Aloha Airlines, he said. Hawaiian said it has received inquiries about a possible purchase or an investment in the airline, which ferries passengers among the islands of Hawaii and between the state, the South Pacific and six West Coast U.S. cities, including Los Angeles.