Hawaiian Airlines pilots ratify new contract

by B. N. Sullivan

The pilots at Hawaiian Airlines have a new contract. The pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), announced today that 90 percent of eligible pilots cast ballots; of those, 83 percent voted in favor of the new contract.

ALPA called the vote " the latest sign that the airline industry and the piloting profession are recovering from the bankruptcy doldrums of the past decade."

According to ALPA, the 68-month agreement will give pilots pay increases of between four and six percent immediately, and total increases of between 15 and 22 percent over the term of the contract. The agreement also increases the company contribution to the pilots’ retirement plans, provides Hawaiian Airlines management more flexibility in pilot training and scheduling, and allows the airline to acquire or code share with a turboprop feeder airline, provided the feeder carrier does not compete with Hawaiian’s existing inter-island turbojet operation.

Hawaiian Airlines and the pilots had been in negotiations for almost three years before arriving at the new agreement. The new contract replaces one that was ratified in 2005 to help the airline emerge from bankruptcy.

Capt. Eric Sampson, chairman of ALPA's Hawaiian Airlines MEC, said, “This contract is a win-win for our members as well as the airline. It rewards our pilots for their repeated sacrifices over the years on behalf of Hawaiian, and positions our company for future success well into this new decade. We’re looking forward to working with management to upgrade our fleet and expand our aloha spirit across the Pacific, and we would like to thank the people of Hawaii for their strong support during our lengthy negotiations.”

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Hawaiian Airlines pilots have voted in favor of authorizing a strike

The Hawaiian Airlines pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), recently carried out a strike authorization vote. Yesterday the union announced that the membership voted "to authorize their elected union representatives to conduct a lawful withdrawal of service if contract talks do not result in a new collective bargaining agreement." According to ALPA, 98 percent of the pilots responding voted to support the strike ballot.

“This vote should be a wake-up call to Hawaiian Airlines management,” said Captain Eric Sampson, chairman of the ALPA unit at Hawaiian Airlines. “There has never been a strike in the 80-year history of our airline, and we don’t want one now. But if that’s what it takes to win a fair and reasonable contract, our pilots have told us loud and clear that they’re ready to take that final step.”

The union points out that the strike vote does not mean that a strike is imminent. It merely authorizes the pilot leadership to begin a strike if and when they deem it necessary once the National Mediation Board (NMB) declares an impasse and releases the parties to self-help. Negotiators for ALPA and Hawaiian Airlines are scheduled to meet with a federal mediator on October 12, 2009. The two sides also met this past week in Honolulu without the mediator present and could do so again prior to the October NMB session.

“The 98 percent approval rating is outstanding and one of the largest margins of support ALPA has ever seen. We deeply appreciate every Hawaiian pilot who stood up and made a statement when it counted, and we hope the next vote we take is one to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement,” Sampson said.

At present, the pilots are working under terms of a concessionary agreement ratified in 2005 while the airline was in bankruptcy. The contract became amendable on June 30, 2007 and it has been more than two years since collective bargaining began for a new contract.

Hawaiian Airlines pilots begin strike authorization vote

by B. N. Sullivan

The 405 pilots at Hawaiian Airlines are seriously considering a strike to protest stalled contract negotiations. The pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), began a strike authorization vote yesterday. The strike ballot would authorize the Hawaiian Master Executive Council (MEC) of ALPA to declare a strike once the pilot group was given permission to do so by the National Mediation Board (NMB). The balloting will continue until September 10.

Hawaiian Airlines pilots are working at present under the terms of a concessionary agreement ratified in 2005 while the airline was in bankruptcy. The pilots’ contract became amendable on June 30, 2007, and collective bargaining has been underway for more than two years. The pilots' union applied for NMB mediation of their contract negotiations in September of 2008.

ALPA acknowledges that the two sides made progress in discussing retirement issues during a four-day mediation session at NMB headquarters in Washington, DC last week, but the pilots and Hawaiian management still disagree on the size and structure of future pay increases. According to the union, a major sticking point "is management’s insistence that pilots pay for any raises over one percent a year by agreeing to 'productivity enhancements' – contract concessions that would force them to fly longer hours and spend more time away from home."

“Management is trying to shield themselves from future economic uncertainty by penalizing the workers responsible for Hawaiian’s present success. They should have more faith in our airline’s potential and realize that their greatest challenge is rebuilding relationships with the pilots and other employees who have suffered the most during Hawaiian’s lean years -- long before our current management ever came to Hawaii,” said Hawaiian MEC Chairman Capt. Eric Sampson.

If the next mediation session, scheduled for mid-October, does not show substantial progress, ALPA could ask the NMB to release the union from mediation. If the NMB approves the release, the pilots would enter into a 30-day cooling off period. A lawful pilot strike could follow at the end of that 30-day period.

“We want a contract, not a strike, and we are still hopeful an agreement can be reached before Hawaiian’s 80th anniversary in November. We are also confident the strike voting results will prove that management should not test this group’s resolve,” Sampson said.

Hawaiian Airlines reached tentative contract agreements with its flight attendants' union, AFA, in February, and with ground workers represented by the IAM in March of this year.

UPDATE Sep. 12, 2009: Hawaiian Airlines pilots have voted in favor of authorizing a strike

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Hawaiian Airlines pilots' union makes substantial donation to Hawaii Food Bank

Hawaiian Airlines pilots recently made a significant contribution to the Hawaii Food Bank. The pilots' union delivered about 3,475 pounds of canned goods and other food items to the Hawaii Food Bank, along with a check for $1,595.

The pilot' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), collected food items and money during a two-week food drive that began April 16, 2009. The donated food included individual items brought to collection centers by local pilots, as well as a truckload of bulk food purchased for the food bank by ALPA.

“In tough times like these, we are all one ohana when it comes to taking care of each other,” said Hawaiian Master Executive Council (MEC) Chairman Capt. Eric Sampson. “We are proud of our pilots for stepping up to help their neighbors, and pleased ALPA was able to assist the food bank in its important mission of serving Hawaii’s hungry.”

Sampson said the pilots had hoped to donate at least 1,200 pounds of food, but they more than doubled that goal, winding up almost 3,500 pounds of groceries to give to the Hawaii Food Bank. The cash donation included $595 contributed by individual pilots and a $1,000 donation from the Hawaiian MEC’s special projects fund.

In 2007 the Hawaiian MEC created a fund for special projects, including philanthropic purposes throughout the islands. The first major gift from the fund was a $5,000 donation for children’s cancer research in 2008. The food bank delivery is the first major donation in 2009 for the fund, which is organized and supported by the pilots and is not affiliated with Hawaiian Airlines.

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Hawaiian Airlines vs Pilots: Trouble in paradise?

by B .N. Sullivan

A tropical storm of sorts appears to be brewing in Hawaii, but it has nothing to do with the weather. Instead it has to do with what is turning into a full-blown labor dispute between Hawaiian Airlines and its pilots.

Fed up after two years of fruitless negotiations with Hawaiian Airlines management, last week officials of the pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), met with Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle and state labor officials in Honolulu to apprise them of the situation. Capt. John Prater, ALPA's national president, expressed to the governor "a strong sense of urgency" regarding the need to finalize contract negotiations.

“I told Governor Lingle that we feel we have moved beyond the realm of simple negotiations and now are in a labor dispute with Hawaiian,” said Capt. Prater in a statement to the media. “She clearly understands the vital importance of air transportation to the state’s economy, and we appreciated her taking the time to listen to our concerns.”

Also present at the meeting with Governor Lingle were Chief of Staff Barry Fukunaga; Hawaii State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations director, Darwin Ching; Capt. Eric Sampson, chairman of the Hawaiian Airlines chapter of ALPA; and Capt. Mike Garnett of the Island Air pilots’ Negotiating Committee. Island Air, another ALPA-represented airline, is also in contract talks with its management.

The Hawaiian Airlines pilots are working at present under the terms of a concessionary agreement ratified in 2005 while the airline was in bankruptcy. The pilots' contract became amendable on June 30, 2007. This past September, ALPA filed for federal mediation of contract talks, but no satisfactory agreement has yet been reached. At issue are wages, including a cost-of-living raise, and retirement funding. The last scheduled session with the federal mediator will be held April 7-15.

“With two weeks of intensive bargaining coming up in April, we wanted to make the governor aware that the Hawaiian pilots have already made numerous contract concessions for the past six years, both in and out of bankruptcy,” Capt. Sampson said. “Our perspective is that the company is profitable and can afford to pay us small, reasonable cost-of-living raises.”

If a satisfactory agreement is not reached next month, would Hawaiian Airlines pilots begin preparing for a strike? Local news media in Hawaii are reporting that move as a possibility. The day after the pilots met with the governor, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported:

Capt. John Prater said yesterday that the two sides are still at issue over wages and retirement funding and that Hawaiian's pilots eventually could go on strike if no settlement is reached. He met with Gov. Linda Lingle and other state officials in Honolulu on Thursday to brief them on the status of negotiations.

"(Hawaiian is) still living under what the bankruptcy judge gave them," Prater said. "They paid everybody else off. They paid their creditors off. They paid their managers quite well. They expect us to work for a bankrupt company - no. This company has been doing OK. It has done a lot better and it can do even better. We don't want this thing to drag on and on because there will be a day of reckoning that we're trying to avoid."

The Star-Bulletin article also quoted Hawaiian Airlines Senior Vice President Charles Nardello, who said of the pilots, "Their union's current position - especially during the worst recession in a generation while other carriers are laying off - has undermined our efforts to have constructive discussions."

Meanwhile, Hawaiian Airlines reached tentative contract agreements with its flight attendants' union, AFA, in February, and with ground workers represented by the IAM earlier this month.

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Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants have a tentative contract

Flight attendants and management at Hawaiian Airlines have reached a tentative agreement (TA) on a proposed new contract. The TA was announced yesterday by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), which represents Hawaiian flight attendants.

"In these challenging times, Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants need a
stable contract they can count on," said Sharon Soper, AFA-CWA Hawaiian President. "We are pleased that we could work collaboratively with Hawaiian's management team to quickly reach an agreement  that provides stability for our members and our company during these turbulent times. We feel that this tentative agreement reflects the needs and concerns the flight attendants have expressed. Our members will now evaluate whether this tentative
agreement and the associated changes are in their best interests and
vote accordingly."

According to the flight attendants' union, the proposed agreement would extend the current contract for two more years and includes improved wages and bonus compensation for Hawaiian Airlines cabin crew while providing some provisions to help the company maintain its operational excellence. The tentative agreement will be sent out for membership review and a voting schedule will be determined.

UPDATE Apr. 1, 2009: Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants ratify contract

Hawaiian Airlines pilots seek mediation of stalled contract talks

Hawaiian Airlines (HAL) pilots are seeking mediation of their contract negotiations by the National Mediation Board (NMB). Contract negotiations, which have been underway between Hawaiian Airlines and its pilots for more than 18 months, have stalled. The pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), filed a request for mediation today, September 16, 2008, the day ALPA and the airline had agreed they could seek federal mediation if previous bargaining talks had failed.

"It has become clear Hawaiian is in no hurry to reach a fair and reasonable agreement. Instead, management is refusing to grant reasonable raises as a hedge against future economic uncertainty," said Captain Eric Sampson, Chairman of ALPA’s Hawaiian Airlines Master Executive Council. "After coming very close to an agreement during private mediation in June, progress at the table has reached a standstill since then. It is time for us to move to mediation with the NMB in hopes of reaching the fair agreement that our pilots have earned and deserve."

The pilots' union points out that over the past year, Hawaiian pilots have repeatedly assisted management by allowing non-ALPA pilots to ferry HAL widebody jets undergoing heavy maintenance, agreeing to be paid under existing rates when the airline acquires newer, longer-range aircraft, as well as sacrificing time off to fly extra hours when two of HAL’s prime competitors, Aloha and ATA Airlines, unexpectedly shut down in April.

"The company is now reporting significant profits and has achieved excellent operating results," Sampson said. "We recognize it’s a tough environment for airlines, but our proposals at the bargaining table have reflected that. Our request is modest and the company can certainly afford it, but Hawaiian apparently prefers to expand on the backs of its labor force. We cannot continue like this."

The pilot group also announced it would reactivate its Strategic Preparedness Committee and seek support from ALPA’s National Strategic Preparedness and Strike Committee. The Hawaiian Master Executive Council named Craig Kahauolopua to chair the Strategic Preparedness Committee, which is responsible for organizing activities before and during a strike. Capt. Kahauolopua is a Boeing 767 captain who also chairs the pilot group’s Security Committee.

The Hawaiian pilots’ contract became amendable on June 30, 2007. If the National Mediation Board accepts the pilots’ request for mediation, the Board will appoint a mediator who will contact the parties and establish a mediation schedule. Talks will continue either until the pilots reach a contract, or until the NMB releases the pilots into a 30-day cooling off period, the expiration of which could be followed by a lawful pilot strike.

"We certainly hope we are able to reach an amicable agreement with Hawaiian management," added Sampson, "but in case an agreement is not reached, we will be ready to pursue our other legal options."

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