Now that Aloha Airlines has gone under (the specific goal of go! airlines was to drive either Hawaiian or Aloha out of business), the airfare war can reside.

Already Pacific Wings is apparently getting ready to bump up fares — dramatically. I went on the PW Express Web site just before midnight last Monday (April 7) evening to book a flight home to Molokai from Honolulu for the following morning and found that one-way flights to Molokai, despite the webpage banner reading "$39 every seat, every flight," started at $49 on several of the flights, jumped to $72 for the flight I wanted and a couple of other flights and were $85 (one way!) on one flight that had just two seats remaining.

When I called the 24-hour reservation line to see if there was a mistake, the agent felt I must have gone to the wrong Web site. However, when he checked, sure enough, it was the same price. He said they must have just changed because they were $39 the day before and he must not have been informed!

When I checked into the Island Air counter the following morning (they had $43 seats at about the same time of departure), I stopped off at the PW counter to ask the girls behind the desk what they knew. They were baffled! When they checked the Web site, the fares were back to$39?! What's up? Obviously preparations for a new war are under way.

And this one involves getting more money out of our pockets ...

In the meantime, go! has already bumped their fares to a minimum $49. Who'd have ever thought that Island Air would be cheaper than go!?

Steve Legare