Hawaiian Air seeks to ground Mesa
Hawaiian Holdings Inc Hawaiian Air seeks to ground Mesa Air
HONOLULU (AFX) - Hawaiian Airlines on Wednesday filed a motion seeking a
court order to prevent Mesa Air Group Inc. from issuing interisland tickets for
a year, alleging the new interisland carrier illegally used confidential
information.
Hawaiian said it has proof Mesa and its chief financial officer, George
Murnane III, misled the U.S. Bankruptcy Court about the use of "highly
confidential" documents and trade secrets obtained from Hawaiian in April 2004.
Mesa on June 9 launched go! airlines as the third interisland jet carrier in
Hawaii, entering the exclusive market dominated for decades by Hawaiian and
Aloha airlines and sparking an airfare war.
Mesa was one of several potential bidders for Hawaiian during its Chapter 11
bankruptcy reorganization. Hawaiian Air filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and emerged
in June 2005 under the majority ownership of California-based Ranch Capital LLC.
Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian's president and chief executive, said in a
statement that Hawaiian is seeking remedy for Mesa breaching a confidentiality
agreement.
"The confidential information has provided Mesa with an enormous unfair
competitive advantage," said the 39-page motion seeking a preliminary
injunction. "In part, this is because Mesa was made privy to Hawaiian's
marketing methods and pricing strategies."
Mesa President and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said Hawaiian's claims are without
merit and that Mesa has been studying the Hawaii market since 1992.
"We're giving local people an opportunity to visit friends and family with
affordable airfare," Ornstein said. "That's something they could not do before,
and it's a shame Hawaiian is pulling out all the stops to take that away from
them."
Phoenix-based Mesa is one of the nation's largest regional carriers with 182
jets, 5,000 employees and annual revenue exceeding $1 billion. It flies to more
than 170 cities under the America West Express, Delta Connection, United Express
and other brand names.
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