Paul Casey, the Chief Executive Officer for Island Air, has some lofty goals for his company, but as the former CEO of the much larger Hawaiian Airlines, Casey feels confident that he will be able to reach them. Casey stated that over the last year since taking over the inter-island airline, he has been working to change the culture and increase the pride that his employees have for the job. Casey added, "By Hawaiian Airlines standards we are very small, but with size comes the personal touch and flexibility and we are privately owned."
Island Airline is owned by billionaire Larry Ellison, who, according to Forbes magazine, is the fifth-richest man in the world with a net worth of $48 billion. Ellison also owns 98 percent of the island of Lanai, including the two Four Seasons properties there. On March 31, 2014, Island Air announced that they will be purchasing two brand new Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft, and have the option of purchasing four additional planes depending on demand.
President and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Mike McCartney, stated, "Island Air has been doing some exciting things under Paul Casey's leadership. The most important thing is they have the capacity to invest in new aircraft, which will help them stay competitive and grow as an interisland airline. With the loss of go!, Island Air's presence has become even more important to the interisland travel market."
Vice President of Brand Management for the Hawaii Tourism Authority, David Uchiyama, added, "Based on the direction and leadership that I see with Island Air, as well as the new ownership, the quality of the aircraft that they're investing in and their efforts to improve service levels, it looks very promising. Paul is very experienced in this market having been the leader of Hawaiian Airlines for so long. So I'm very confident that he is going to provide the direction needed to make Island Air very competitive in the market."
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-4-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
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