Every conversation was interrupted with a gleeful high-pitched squeal, an “Eeeeeeee!” as dear friends who hadn’t seen each other in 10 years found one another in the crowd and launched into prolonged, emphatic hugs.

Former employees of Aloha Airlines gathered Saturday night, exactly 10 years after the company shut down, for a reunion held at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki.

“It’s a mixture of emotions. It’s happy. It’s sad. It brings back every memory,” said Laurie Grochowski, who was a flight attendant for Aloha for 32 years. As she tried to tell stories of her years of flying, Grochowski was continually interrupted by a hug from someone who told her, “You look fantastic!”

“Thanks,” she’d say. “I tried to recreate my hair from my flying days so people would recognize me.”

Many came to the party dressed in their uniforms, from vintage ’70s orange to the blue and purple of the airline’s last days of service. Pilots wore their credentials on cords around their necks. Even employees who had left Aloha long before the shut down came. To a person, they all said the people they worked with were more than friends. They became family.

“When I used to get ready for work, I used to think, ‘What am I going to bring for the crew to eat today?’” said Les Tokunaga, who was an Aloha flight attendant for 10 years. “I would buy in threes — three plate lunches, three bento, three Subway sandwiches — always to share with the other flight attendants.” She brings out her phone to show a treasured photo she has kept of one of her favorite pilots, Capt. Walt Kaneakua, who she remembers used to bring homemade muffins for the flight crew.

Linda Chin, who worked in many different departments during her 20 years with the airline, got tearful when she greeted Han “Pinky” Ching, the son of Hung Wo Ching, founder of Aloha Airlines. “I’m so appreciative of your family,” she told him. “Your father, he was all about Aloha integrity. When we had to go out and find other jobs, people knew we worked at Aloha and they knew we understood integrity.”

For most at the reunion, their last day of working for Aloha was March 31, 2008. The shutdown came as a shock to the airline’s 3,500 employees, as well as to the entire state. The company had been in business for 61 years but could not withstand the onslaught of the recession, high fuel prices and predatory pricing by a new airline, Go!, which has since shut down.

The reunion was planned for 500 people but reserved tickets sold out quickly. Nobody wanted to tell the other people they couldn’t come, so they started a “standby” list and assured everyone they’d get them in one way or another.

And as guests checked in at the door, they were reminded to sign up early for the 15-year reunion, and the 20th. They will still miss each other in 10 years. They will still love their airline in 10 years. No question.

“There was a special connection that we had, with our customers and with each other,” said Terry Visperas, a former flight attendant who served as the party emcee. “And we never lost that.”