Hawaiian Airlines bankruptcy trustee was kicked off a Hawaiian flight by its pilot.

A Hawaiian Airlines pilot asked bankruptcy trustee Josh Gotbaum to get off a plane preparing for takeoff Thursday, saying he was angry about Gotbaum’s policies and could not safely fly the Boeing 767-300 with the trustee aboard.



Gotbaum agreed to leave rather than delay the takeoff, an airline spokesman said yesterday.



“The pilot told him he wasn’t happy to have him on the flight,” said Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner. “Rather than delay the flight by discussing it at that point, he decided to take another flight.”



The pilot, Capt. Craig Kobayashi, said yesterday: “So many employees are so emotional about him after all of the things Gotbaum has done, such as freezing our pension plan.”

I wouldn’t want to be a passenger on a flight where the pilot claims to be so easily rattled as to compromise safety. For the ongoing benefit of passengers, this pilot should be immediately placed on leave.