WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, announced today that the Senate Commerce Committee, which he chairs, will hold a hearing Thursday on air service to Hawai'i in the wake of shutdowns by Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines.

The hearing will look at the current status of the Hawai'i air service market, the implications of Aloha's bankruptcy filing and the impact on small rural communities in the islands, which have been having problems with air service over the past several years.

But Aloha, which stopped flying a week ago and let go more than 1,900 workers, was only one blow to Hawai'i air service.

On April 3, discount carrier ATA announced it would shut down and laid off 58 of its workers in the state. The move also prompted Aloha to lay off other workers who were servicing ATA flights.

The two closings eliminated one-seventh of the air capacity between Hawai'i and the West Coast and could cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost taxes, landing fees and airport rents.

State officials have estimated up to 500,000 fewer visitors a year to Hawai`i as a result of the lost airline capacity.