U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King said he is not going to stand in the way of Aloha Airlines' plan to shut down passenger service today.

"This is a business decision that has to be made by the debtor (Aloha)," said King.

King said as long as Aloha has made a good-faith effort to explore all the possibilities, he will not stand in the way of a shutdown. King added that no one has showed that Aloha did not make a good-faith effort.

King said he reviewed applicable laws and concluded that he did not have the legal authority to issue an order to approve or disapprove Aloha's plan to cease passenger service and lay off 1,900 workers.

Gov. Linda Lingle had asked this morning that the bankruptcy court to prevent Aloha Airlines from ceasing passenger operations for at least another month.

Aloha announced yesterday that it was halting its passenger service. The last flight will be from Maui to Honolulu, arriving at 10:34 p.m. tonight.