Filing seeks restoration of pension payments

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaiian Airlines' bankruptcy trustee and Hawaiian's pilots union have filed a joint request to restore $7.5 million in missed pension payments and an overdue $3.5 million retention bonus.

Trustee Josh Gotbaum's original request to the bankruptcy court in August 2003 to postpone the payments immediately angered pilots and represented Gotbaum's first significant act since taking over Hawai'i's largest airline the month before.

The joint motion to the bankruptcy court would restore all of the missed pension payments through 2002 and part of 2003. Hawaiian is not required to make the remainder of its 2003 pension payments until September.

The request also would restore 10 percent in deferred pay — or $3.5 million — from the pilots' 2000 employment contract.

Gotbaum successfully argued to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris in 2003 that he needed to postpone the pilots' payments because Hawaiian needed cash as it worked its way through bankruptcy.

Since then, Hawaiian has posted 14 consecutive months of profit.

"Now that it's clear we will not have to terminate the (pilots' pension) plan in order for Hawaiian to survive, we should resume making the contributions we owe," Gotbaum said in a statement yesterday. "In the interest of working together with the union to reorganize Hawaiian, I felt it best to act now to remove this as a concern for our pilots."

Capt. David Wolz, a 50-year-old Boeing 767 pilot, called yesterday's action "obviously good news. Personally, I think it's a step in the right direction. There are other issues, but this is definitely a positive step."

Bob Raben, a Boeing 717 pilot, retired in January when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 60.

"When I retired, the company was making money and I figured that Mr. Gotbaum would have a very difficult time convincing the judge that he couldn't pay the pension plan. I was wondering how he was going to pull that off."

When Gotbaum proposed postponing the pension payments, Raben said, "I don't think Mr. Gotbaum realized the depth of the feeling at that time. I think he does now."

The joint request by Gotbaum and the Air Line Pilots Association must be approved by the U.S. bankruptcy court.

Capt. Jim Giddings, chairman of the Hawaiian Airlines unit of the pilots union, called the request to the bankruptcy court "great news for the more than 300 men and women who have waited patiently. ... While this delay has caused many pilots and their families a great deal of worry and anxiety over their future financial security, Hawaiian Airlines pilots have continued to keep the planes flying and to deliver our passengers safely and on time."

Reach Dan Nakaso at 525-8085 or dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.