How much is “Aloha” worth?

As part of Aloha Airlines’ bankruptcy liquidation, the defunct carrier’s trade name and intellectual properties are being sold.

It’s difficult to put a price tag on the Aloha name but local marketing expert Gloria Garvey believes the brand still carries a lot of value.

Once dubbed “the People’s Airline,” Aloha has a rich, 60-year history of serving the local market. Memorabilia associated with the airline carries a lot of nostalgic value.

None of the previous interisland carriers that came and went — Discovery Airways, Mid Pacific Airlines and Mahalo Airlines — have anywhere near the following that Aloha had.

Given the sad state of the airline industry, you’re not going to see a the start up of a new interisland carrier anytime soon.

But the economy will improve some day and the airline business will bounce back. When that happens, the Aloha trade name could be resurrected by a start-up. Or someone might want to buy the name to fly charters, Garvey said.

The history of marketing is littered with brands that folded, only to come back years later. Life magazine, Coca Cola Classic, or, more recently, Primo Beer, are just several examples.

Call it a quick rebound.

Former Aloha Airlines Chief Executive Officer David Banmiller is rumored to be the next CEO of Air Jamaica.

RadioJamaica.com reported today that appointment of Banmiller could be announced soon by the airline’s board. (See)

Banmiller declined comment today.

Banmiller, who lost his position at Aloha on March 31 when the state’s number 2 carrier shutdown passenger service and laid off 1,900 workers, is Air Jamaica’s former chief operating officer.

His expertise as an airline turnaround expert will be in big demand at Jamaica’s financially troubled national airline.

Banmiller is credited for helping Aloha emerge from its first bankruptcy in 2006. He also was was instrumental in the recovery of Minneapolis-based Sun Country Airlines in 2001.

The liquidation of Aloha Airlines continues.

The defunct airline’s court-appointed trustee Dane Field has already sold Aloha’s profitable cargo division, its contract services unit and their receivables for more than $20 million.

And last week the carrier’s main investor Yucaipa Co. bid $10 million of the debt owed by the airline to acquire the legal claims against go! airlines’ Phoenix-based parent Mesa Air Group.

Jim Wagner, Field’s attorney, said after a court hearing last week that Field plans to sell another $10 million to $15 million for remaining aircraft frames, engines and aircraft parts.

That would bring the total haul to somewhere between $40 million to $46 million for the defunct airlines assets.

Aloha’s break-up value is just a fraction of the $215 million in assets that the company listed when it filed for bankruptcy protection on March 20.

That loss of value gives you some measure of how much more a living company, its employees and its goodwill is worth to a community than a mere shell of a corporation.

Hawaii’s real estate market was softening, the U.S. economy was battling recession and the state had just seen its largest-ever mass layoff.

The failure to approve a multi-billion dollar mass transit system on Oahu dominated local headlines for weeks.

Sound familiar?

That was 1992. It was the beginning of the longest and deepest economic downturn in state history.

Some local policy makers will tell you that things are very different today. They pat themselves on the back and say that the economy has made a lot of structural changes and is better able to weather the financial storms that hit our shores.

I’m not entirely convinced by that.

The shutdown of Aloha Airlines — whose impact on the local zeitgeist was similar to that of the 1992 closure of Hamakua Sugar — is worrisome.

High fuel costs are affecting that moves from car sales, shipping costs, air fares and visitor arrivals.

The financial turmoil in the credit markets probably won’t have as big an impact here as the collapse of the 1990s Japanese investment bubble but it definitely will be felt by the local real estate sector. (Vulture investors — who made millions off of the 1990s recession — are beginning to lick their chops.)

I suspect we’re at one of those critical economic junctures where the policies we adopt now will have long lasting impact. It would be tragic if we allowed history to repeat itself.

It’s back to the drawing board for the sale of the Galbraith Trust lands.

On Tuesday, the Bank of Hawaii Corp. called off a deal by Canadian developers Dennis Blain and Phil Archer to buy the 2,100 acre Central Oahu parcel for $40 million. (See)

The bank now has to relist the property and may have to hire a new broker, which could take months and could add hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs.

The bank may end up having to settle for less than $40 million due to the softening economy.

But the delay also provides more time for state and city lawmakers and local community leaders to buy and preserve the agricultural lands.

The new sales effort could get a boost from a measure passed by the Legislature this year that allows owners of ag lands to convert 15 percent of their acreage into new housing development.

The bill, which is awaiting Gov. Linda Lingle’s signature or veto, could result more than 300 acres for new housing, which vastly increases the value of the Galbraith Estate lands.

People familiar the Galbraith Estate said the previous deal collapsed on Tuesday after Blain and Archer asked for a 60-day extension to see if the ag bill gets signed and to review its potential impact.

They also say that Canadian group is trying to find a way to revive their bid.

Either way, it looks like any sale won’t be completed until the end of the year. This means further delay in the termination of the trust and further delay in the distribution of its assets to the 600-plus beneficiaries of the estate.