Island Air employees — shocked, saddened and resilient — carried out their final day of work Friday still reeling from the previous day’s announcement that the 37-year-old company would be shutting down a minute after midnight.

They checked in arriving travelers with a smile, waved aloha to departing passengers and assisted those to the curb needing wheelchair assistance.

But make no mistake about it, there was much uncertainty as they met throughout the day with the company’s human resources department and the rapid-response team from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Glenda Aki, who had been with Island Air for 17 years as both a flight attendant and customer service agent, finally caved in to the emotion of the moment after exiting a meeting at the Honolulu commuter terminal where employees were instructed on how to file for unemployment benefits.

“This is the first time I’ve actually cried, because I’ve tried to hold it back,” Aki said. “It’s very emotional because I’m going to miss my co-workers. They’re the best co-workers you can ever have.”

She said she was appreciative the Labor Department workers came out on a holiday to offer information to the 423 Island Air employees who are losing their jobs.

It was deja vu for those employees who previously worked for Aloha Airlines, which shut down in March 2008, and go! airlines, which ceased operations in March 2014.

Former Aloha Airlines CEO David Banmiller, who was at the helm when Aloha ceased operations, called Island Air’s shutdown “another sad day for aviation in Hawaii.”

“Since the loss of Aloha and now Island Air the resident consumers will continue to be affected, which is truly disappointing,” Banmiller said by email from Ireland. “The islands deserve robust and fair competition. I would not be surprised to see a major such as United or Southwest show up, and with the right aircraft, could stimulate the market and offer a wider range of choices.”

United is adding 11 additional flights from four mainland cities to the neighbor islands beginning next month but has never publicly indicated any desire to fly interisland.

Southwest said last month it plans to begin selling tickets from the mainland to Hawaii beginning next year and that it might add an interisland service. Southwest said Thursday night it had nothing further to say about interisland routes in the wake of Island Air’s shutdown.

Hawaii aviation historian Peter Forman said he doesn’t expect interisland fares to change much in the wake of Island Air’s shutdown.

“Airfares should not change significantly with the loss of Island Air, since Hawaiian Airlines was already the instigator of most pricing moves,” he said. “The exceptions will likely be holiday dates and popular travel times when available seats are already tight. Expect some upward movement on fares for such flights to keep those flights from filling up too quickly at the current prices.”

Hawaiian Airlines, which held about 90 percent of the interisland market before Island Air’s shutdown, indicated that low airfares would be available for the foreseeable future.

“We have made manual adjustments to pricing and fare availability to ensure that lower fares are broadly available in the near term,” Hawaiian spokeswoman Ann Botticelli said.

Even with lower fares, Hawaiian likely will benefit by the increased number of passengers who now will need to fly on its 128-seat Boeing 717s. Mokulele Airlines, formerly the third-largest airline, seats only nine passengers on its Cessna Caravan turboprops.

Hawaiian stock climbed 10.1 percent, or $3.30, to $36.15 on Friday. That was the largest one-day percentage increase for Hawaiian’s stock since June 7, when it jumped 12.3 percent after the company increased its second-quarter revenue outlook.

Bankruptcy continues

Island Air filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Oct. 16 amid a lease dispute to prevent its only three aircraft from being repossessed. But the money-losing airline, unable to find an investor, pulled the plug on its operations ahead of insurance premiums coming due. Island Air said Friday it hopes to compensate its employees in full for work performed through the final day of operation but that the final determination will be up to the Bankruptcy Court trustee. The airline said employees’ existing health care insurance benefits will expire at the earliest on Nov. 30.

While Island Air’s flying days are over, the company’s bankruptcy is far from it. The company will need to convert its Chapter 11 case to a Chapter 7 liquidation as creditors line up to collect whatever they can from the failed carrier.

Tristie Lono, a customer service agent who had been with the company for 10 months, said she was approaching her final day with a positive attitude as she wheeled a passenger out to the curb.

“It was sad getting the email (about the shutdown from CEO David Uchiyama) because nobody really told us anything,” she said. “We were calling everyone up and, ‘Yeah, we’re going in to work today, so let’s go to work, OK, last day, we can hang out together.’ We’re one ohana. We really got close.”

Debbie Maluina, a customer service agent for eight months, said employees tried to remain optimistic when the company filed for bankruptcy.

“We were just hopeful that everything would just turn around for the best for us,” she said. “We just found out ourselves last night, and our reaction was shock. But we’re just going to keep faith that whatever happens, happens and all my co-workers are going to find something better.”

Maluina said she was going to take some time off and then try to land a job with another airline. She said working on the company’s final day was hard but said the passengers helped ease the pain.

“They’re being so kind to us and still showing us aloha,” she said.