Aloha and union officials had been scheduled to appear in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on April 21 to consider the company's motion to force the mechanics and inspectors to accept a new contract.

Instead, "a majority of the membership" voted to accept the 28-month contract, said Joseph Tiberi of the union's Washington, D.C. office. The IAM, which represents 250 Aloha workers, is not releasing the number of members who voted for and against the contract, Tiberi said.

The new contract calls for a 10 percent pay cut through Dec. 31, 2006, on top of a 10 percent cut in gross pay for all Aloha employees that went into effect in December 2004. An expected 2 percent pay increase that was due in 2006 will be eliminated.

The contract also allows the company to outsource work and eliminates "no furlough" provisions.

It freezes the union's defined benefit retirement plan and eliminates the defined benefit plan for workers hired after the beginning of this year. If the freeze continues beyond June 2007, employees will instead receive 3 percent of their salary into a 401(k) plan.

Aloha filed for bankruptcy protection in December and the members of IAM 142 were the last of the company's five unions to approve a new contract.

"This decisive action by Aloha's mechanics and inspectors brings to a close an important chapter in our reorganization," said David A. Banmiller, Aloha's president and chief executive officer. "With the support of all of our employees, Aloha can move quickly toward its goal of emerging from bankruptcy as a stronger, more competitive airline."