Labor Relations Darken at Hawaiian Airlines

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-15-2008/0004832467&EDATE=

HONOLULU, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- An attempt by management and pilots
at Hawaiian Airlines to turn around a strained and difficult
post-bankruptcy relationship appears to be failing. After more than a year
of effort to reach a new contract outside of the regular negotiating
process, both sides are still far apart and the pilot group is rapidly
losing patience, according to the Hawaiian Airlines unit of the Air Line
Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA).

A failure would likely put pilots and management on a collision course
at a time when both had hoped the airline could quickly capitalize on the
market share left after the demise of Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines
earlier this year.

"We're frustrated and disappointed with the slow pace of negotiations,"
said Capt. Eric Sampson, chairman of ALPA's Hawaiian Airlines Master
Executive Council. "This is a billion-dollar airline with huge upside
potential, and management's latest proposal isn't even enough to cover
annual cost of living increases."

When Hawaiian's 2005 contract became amendable in June 2007, management
and union leaders agreed to an expedited process that featured two sessions
of intense, but cooperative bargaining last year and, more recently, two
sessions using the services of a private mediator. The latest mediation
round ended June 13 with the two sides still substantially apart on several
key issues.

Over the past 18 months ALPA has given Hawaiian significant contractual
relief to enable the airline to capitalize on a number of major business
opportunities, including:



-- allowing Air New Zealand pilots to fly Hawaiian aircraft to Auckland in
order to save money on heavy maintenance;

-- negotiating new equipment language to enable the company to complete
the purchase of more than $4 billion worth of new, state-of-the-art
Airbus aircraft;

-- relaxing contract rules to permit pilots to fly up to FAA limits to
respond to the shutdown of its two major competitors in the mainland
Hawaii and inter-island markets.


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