Unions weigh airline request
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawaiian Airlines labor unions are working out details this week of their response to the airline's request for $15 million in labor concessions.
Hawaiian's pilots union announced yesterday it had reached a preliminary "agreement in principle" with the company and continued to discuss several issues.
According to the union, Hawaiian asked for $8 million in concessions from the pilots, or more than half of the givebacks it is seeking from employees.
Hawaiian chairman and chief executive John Adams gave the unions until tomorrow to agree to the concessions, but it is unclear whether all the groups will make the deadline. The pilots union may not reach a final decision on contract terms until next week or later.
The International Association of Machinists is scheduled to vote today on participating in the concessions. Hawaiian asked for $3.8 million from the group, according to Randy Kauhane, assistant general chairman for the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers District Lodge 141.
"We are still in talks," Kauhane said, adding that he could not give details.
Hawaiian said it wanted to avoid cutting workers' pay and is seeking instead to save the $15 million through means including increases in productivity.
Discussions with the Association of Flight Attendants also are continuing, the carrier said. The Association of Flight Attendants did not respond to calls for comment yesterday.
Throughout the industry, airlines have been seeking labor savings to survive in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, when travel tightened and discounted fares cut into revenues.
Hawaiian has told employees that without the concessions, it will need to downsize operations, which could lead to job cuts. Hawaiian also has been in talks with Boeing Co., seeking $15 million in concessions from its aircraft lease contracts.
Hawaiian's Air Line Pilots Association told members in a memo last week that contract language covering the concessions still needed to be hammered out. The final language would then have to be reviewed by the union's master executive council.
"We feel that we were successful in getting the best possible agreement (in principle), given the very difficult circumstances and time constraints that we have," the memo read.
Hawaiian pilots have said they are reluctant to agree to the $8 million in concessions, because Hawaiian spent $25 million on a stock buyback last year intended to give shareholders a better return on their investments.
The pilots union has formed a contingency planning committee for situations such as any Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing by Hawaiian.
Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2470.
