Aloha, Pilots Union Talks Drag On (company wants to use more junior pilots)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5683614.html

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press

HONOLULU — Aloha Airlines and its pilots union on Monday extended for another day their talks on who will fly the company's cargo planes.

The union wants Aloha to retain pilots based on seniority. But the company wants to use more junior pilots who have been flying Aloha's cargo service.

Aloha stopped flying passenger routes on March 31 and laid off about 2,000 employees, including senior pilots who flew flights between Hawaii and the mainland.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. It's currently seeking a buyer, or buyers, for its remaining profitable parts, including the cargo business.

Whether the airline can sell these bits, and save the jobs of Aloha's remaining roughly 1,500 employees, will depend on a settlement between the pilots and the union.

And because Aloha handles 85 percent of all interisland air cargo, an adverse impact on Hawaii's economy also hangs in the balance.

FULL story at link.

[KamaAina]

1. This could even disrupt mail delivery to parts of the state

:scared:

http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/08/news/story02.html

A hearing has been scheduled for 9:30 this morning to reassess the pilot talks and the company's cash position. Aloha's primary lender, General Motors Acceptance Corp., has said it will not put any additional funds into the company unless the pilot issue is settled.

Aloha delivers all the mail to Maui and the Big Island, and U.S. Postal Service spokesman Duke Gonzales said yesterday that the mail service has no fallback plans to get mail to and from those islands if Aloha's cargo operation shuts down.

"We still do have an agreement or contract with Aloha," he said. "Until any type of change is made, we are not going to go out and seek another bidder."

Funny that I had to read about this first in a Houston paper! This is potentially much, much worse for the state even than the loss of Aloha's (and now ATA's) passenger service. Yet the local M$M has been slow to cover it, and Hawaiian and go! don't appear to be rushing to fill the void as they did with the passenger service. Eurghh.