Posted at 3:50 p.m., Friday, September 28, 2001

Hawaiian Airlines to lay off 430 workers

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaiian Airlines said today it will lay off 430 employees, or 12 percent of its work force, as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks continue to curtail travel.

"Furloughing employees is the last thing we want to do, but we've exhausted all other options," Paul Casey, Hawaiian's vice chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Under the circumstances, we have no choice but to take this step to protect the company's financial position going forward."

The layoffs will take effect Sunday, the day before Hawaiian begins a previously announced 20 percent systemwide reduction in flights.

Hawaiian joins a long list of major U.S. airlines that have cut routes and laid off a total of nearly 100,000 employees since the terrorist hijackings.

President Bush announced plans to beef up security at airports and on airplanes during a visit to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Thursday. Congress passed a $15 billion package last week to assist the airlines during the crisis.

Hawaiian Airlines stands to get more than $24 million of that money. But Casey said despite the assistance, the furloughs were needed to help balance "substantially diminished revenues for the foreseeable future."

The state's other locally based carrier, Aloha Airlines, said last week it was laying off 250 employees, or about 8 percent of its workforce, and reducing flights by 26 percent.

Hawaiian's job cuts will add to the more than 5,700 people who have applied for unemployment benefits in Hawai'i because of the slowdown in tourism following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hawaiian is providing eligible employees with full severance pay and continued healthcare benefits, as well as job placement and counseling assistance, the company said. Hawaiian earlier announced it is reducing weekly flights between the Hawaiian Islands and the U.S. mainland to 98 from 120, while daily flights within Hawai'i will be reduced to 123 from 158. The schedule changes begin Oct. 1.

Hawaiian Airlines shares rose 10 cents to $2.20. The stock has dropped 22 percent since the Sept. 11 attacks.