Former Aloha Airlines CEO David Banmiller said he feels vindicated but sad that everything he predicted and warned people about go! turned out to be true.

"I personally don’t think they ever belonged in Hawaii," Banmiller said by telephone Tuesday from his home in Dublin, Ireland. "It was a decision that I never thought was in the best interest of their shareholders, and has now a few years later proven to be true. Unfortunately, their provocative and misguided entrance into the marketplace, as we predicted, led to the unfortunate demise of Aloha Airlines. Our pleas to both government officials and the media fell on deaf ears."

Banmiller, who was at the helm when Aloha ceased passenger operations March 31, 2008, said there were 8.5 million passengers flying between the islands five to six years ago, and now there are 6.5 million.

"Two million passengers disappeared because they couldn’t afford the trip," he said. "Everything we predicted years ago has come to fruition. We said go! would ultimately leave, fares would dramatically increase and people wouldn’t be able to afford to fly. And everybody we talked to just nodded and listened and unfortunately did nothing to assist us."

Ironically, go!’s last day of service will be March 31, exactly six years to the day that Aloha shut down.

"Yes, I do feel vindicated, although it is of little comfort to all those terrific employees, many with Aloha for their entire adult life," Banmiller said.

Go!, which began service in Hawaii on June 9, 2006, said Monday it will cease operations April 1. Many go! passengers didn’t find out that the carrier was going out of business until they were en route to or at the airport Tuesday.

Prachi Rathore, who was traveling to Lihue with her husband and their 21⁄2-year-old son, said their trip on go! was their first and was part of a package from United Airlines.

"When we took the shuttle coming from the hotel in Waikiki, somebody showed us the newspaper saying ‘gone!’ but the shuttle driver said we can still fly," she said. "We were joking that maybe we are the last customers and they’ll give us a blanket and a pillow, but I feel sorry for them."

Kevin McKay, who is stationed in Hono­lulu and was traveling to Lihue with his wife, Debo­rah, and their 19-month-old daughter, Brooke, said he read Monday night about go! shutting down.

"It’s kind of a disappointment because we use go! a lot," he said. "It saves us a lot of money."

Deborah McKay said, "I was shocked because they do offer a lot of military discounts and military specials."

Maria Brown, who was with a party of seven from St. Louis, was here during spring break and said they found out the news from a man at the car rental agency.

"This is our first time on go!" she said. "There’s seven of us flying, and we had to make a choice economic-wise. It was a lot more reasonable."

With go! bidding aloha, the question is raised again whether Hawaii can support three mid- to large-size airlines.

Banmiller doesn’t think so.

"It is really a two-carrier market," he said. "The other two (Island Air and Moku­lele Airlines) are small and focused on smaller interisland markets. I doubt any other airline has considered coming to Hawaii. I continue to believe that a new Aloha could become that second carrier. If we had the current fare levels and fuel cost, we would be doing very well economically. I believe that a new carrier with the Aloha brand, its 60-plus years of history, and engaging previous employees would be a dramatic success."

Banmiller said Hawaiian has participated in the escalation of fares to the point where people can no longer afford to fly, thereby hurting the Hawaii economy.

"There is pent-up demand for reasonably priced fares between the islands," he said.

U.S. Department of Transportation statistics show that the average interisland fare is now $93, with many flights higher than that, Banmiller said.

"We were getting by at $60 until go!," he said.

Local aviation historian Peter Forman agreed with Banmiller and said that "three airlines is a tough number."

"There’s always somebody that’s going to be in trouble if we have three airlines," he said. "Two airlines is a more logical number because the airline that is perceived to have the best product and have the most connections is going to do well, and the airline that can offer the lowest fares has a chance of doing OK. But it’s the one in the middle that’s going to be hurting."