As a youngster, many of us heard from our parents or our teachers we were not living up to our potential. These were supposed to be words of encouragement.

Island Air has failed to live up to its potential. It has failed to see the obvious. Island Air should and could be a reliable air carrier for the Hawaiian Islands. However, its focus under former owner Charlie Willis was to squeeze as much profit out of the airline as possible. To say it was run on a shoestring would be generous.

The last CEO of Island Air during Willis’ ownership refused to listen to staff, who repeatedly warned of operational and other issues. They were ignored, let go or simply left in frustration. It would appear that a similar culture has survived even in the face of new ownership. While great things were heralded with billionaire Larry Ellison’s takeover, Island Air has remained a huge disappointment in terms of providing reliable interisland service to Hawaii.

What is obvious is that Island Air does not have a plan — a plan that would regenerate revenues lost to Hawaiian Airlines, Mokulele Airlines and failed aircraft acquisitions. A plan that would include a focus on operating safely and not focused primarily on operating costs or what color to paint the airplanes.

It was striking that during a time of tourism growth in Hawaii, Island Air lost ridership. Could it have been word-of-mouth due to unreliable flights and delays?

Island Air should also change its plantation mentality culture. There have been many talented workers there who have offered their expertise, only to have it rejected by management that believed it was better than its underlings.

In my experience, during my time at Island Air, the CEO and its top staff did not possess the knowledge to be able to make technical decisions wisely; that has since plagued the airline.

At this point it would appear that Island Air has survived solely on the deep pockets of Ellison. It still needs a plan, a plan that focuses on providing a reliable air service to all the Hawaiian Islands. However, it persists on being mired in the selection of the right aircraft for providing that service.

During the selection process prior to Ellison’s purchase of the airline, operational considerations were completely ignored in favor of making sure the aircraft was painted in the proper color scheme. Hence, Molokai and West Maui were dropped, as the replacement aircraft to the Dash 8 could not operate profitably from those airfields.

The choice of ATR as a replacement to the Bombardier Dash 8-100 caused a complete retraining of the pilot and maintenance staffs. Had Island Air remained with Bombardier, the transition to either Dash 8-200 or -300 aircraft would have been mitigated. The money spent on transitioning to ATR from the Dash 8 could have been spent in addressing other more critical issues.

Money is neither everything nor is it a true measure of ability, talent or experience. If Island Air truly wishes to serve Hawaii’s public, then it needs to change its focus and its corporate attitude. Island Air has failed to live up to its potential. It needs to remember it is there to serve the public, not corporate interests.

Vic Craft is former manager of quality assurance at Island Air. He worked for the airline from April 2009 to March 2012.