Lee Steele, a former senior vice president of operations at Aloha Airlines, has been appointed president of Aloha Air Cargo, the lone surviving entity of the now-defunct carrier.

Aloha Air Cargo was purchased by Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources in 2008 after the commercial airline ceased passenger services on March 31, 2008, and subsequently converted to Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation from Chapter 11 reorganization.

Steele, who has more than two decades of experience in the airline industry, most recently was president of Global Dimensions Inc., an aviation consulting company. He left Aloha Airlines in 2006 to become president and chief executive officer of Champion Air, which ceased operations on May 31, 2008. He left Champion in 2009.

Steele will take over his new duties on July 1 and will be replacing Mike Malik, who stepped down about a month ago for personal reasons.