Posted on: Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Aloha, pilots close to pay deal

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

Aloha Airlines, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, is close to announcing labor agreements with pilots and flight attendants.

The company, which has 3,668 employees, began negotiations with its unions before the bankruptcy filing and was expected to announce an agreement soon with the Air Line Pilots Association. The association represents about 320 Aloha Airlines pilots.

"I think we've probably agreed in concept as far as several weeks ago, and even to today, all we're doing is working out details," said Capt. Steve Brenessel, an Aloha pilot and spokesman for the union. "I don't think there's ever been any doubt that the pilots would do whatever was required to help the company through this period. It became apparent to us that they were in trouble and that they needed some relief. All it boiled down to is how we were going to do it, exactly and in what form."

The Association of Flight Attendants has signed a tentative agreement, which requires ratification by union members, said Karen Nakaoka, the union's Master Executive Council vice president. The association represents about 433 flight attendants.

"We worked hard to reach an agreement that will help the company achieve success while remaining as fair as possible to the flight attendants under these circumstances," she said. She declined to give details until the entire package is presented to the members.

Aloha has said that while under bankruptcy protection, it hopes to cut operating expenses by 15 percent, or $60 million, this year by renegotiating aircraft leases and labor contracts, and reassessing operations, including Mainland routes.

The unions say they have been doing their part. Brenessel said the pilots' union took the company's offer "and we simply revalued it in terms of what areas were of more importance than others and then in the end, the total would equal what the company wanted (to save)."

He said the agreement would involve pay cuts.

"The pilots have been willing and they've been cooperative," he said. "There hasn't been the kind of bitterness and adversity that you find at some airlines. We haven't experienced that. It's been, 'What's the problem, how do we fix it?' "

The labor agreement would have to be ratified by the union's three-member Master Executive Council. The union charges the council with approving such decisions rather than asking all its members to vote.

The negotiations follow 10 percent pay cuts that the unions agreed to in 2002. Then, Aloha had asked its employees to take pay cuts to save $37 million during the next three years in an effort to get a $40.5 million federal loan guarantee.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2470.