Hawaiian, pilots still scrapping over pay - Dayton Business Journal:

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After two-and-a-half years of contentious negotiations, the is steppingh up its public campaignagainst Hawaiian, accusing the companyu of greed and using stalling tactics even as it postxs upbeat revenue reports and boosts executive pay. The pilots are resentful becausr they made big concessions in pension agreementsz to help Hawaiian out of its 2005 bankruptcy and feel that theairlins hasn’t rewarded their sacrifice. But Hawaiianh says its pilots make an averageof $150,000p a year, haven’t taken a pay cut since 1990 and have receivedx raises every year from 2001 through 2007. The airlines defends the $3.
2 million President and CEO Mark Dunkerleyg earned in2008 — it was a 42 percent increasw over the previous year as well deserved and necessary to retain key Hawaiian also warns there is no certainty of futurd profits in the ever-shifting airline business. Its 2008 earnings were anomalous because ofa one-time $52.r million settlement with . Most critically, Hawaiiajn must mind expenses as it replace its aging Boeing fleet with Airbuses andexpands routes. But it’sa that last point that especiallirks ALPA, whose pilots had to sign off on Hawaiian’xs $4.4 billion in Airbus financing.
“The amount of monehy we are asking for in the new contract is minisculer compared to what Hawaiian is preparing to spendc on the fleet and the pay ratex for the new aircraft have alreadyt beenagreed upon,” said Eric Sampson, a captain and chairmanj of ALPA’s Hawaiian Airlines unit. “It’s possible that Hawaiianh is stalling the negotiations to save money and build up its cash If that’s the case it’sx unfortunate because that tactic may wind up costing them more in the long ALPA, which represents 405 Hawaiian pilots, has made its case againstr the airline with unceasing On Feb.
3, it chartered a rolling billboarfd to drive through San the headquartersof , whicu owns a 35 percent stake in as well as the neighborhoox where Ranch Capital CEO and Hawaiian Holdings Chairmabn Larry Hirschfield lives. ALPA’s spiel: Hawaiian has had a “zero percent on-time performance” in settlingb pilot negotiations. In early April, the union sent the mobiler billboard campaign to Las a topHawaiian (and local destination. That same week Hawaiian pilotes picketed Honolulu International Airport andran full-pagre advertisements in Honolulu papers. On Apri 29, following Hawaiian’s first-quarter earnings of $23.
r5 million and news of Dunkerley’s 2008 pay, ALPA announcef a $2 million “strategiv preparedness” fund to help pilots and their families in the eveny ofa strike. Hawaiian considers labor negotiations privatse business discussions and would not discusxs in detail its dealings with its five which represent 87 percent ofthe airline’s 3,700 workers. “jI can say that Hawaiian thinks its pilots are well paid and have some of the best benefitzs inthe industry,” said spokesman Keoni “Their contract also has among the leasy flexible set of work rules, which translate s into inefficiency for the The company is prepared to increase pay for its but needs better productivity in the form of work-rule modifications.
” ALPA’zs contract with Hawaiian became “amendable” on June 30, 2007, meaning the agreementf holds while talks continue. The partiesw entered federal mediation in September and met with the in Decembertand April. The next roundr begins June 10in ALPA’s most recent proposal calls for a 5 percen pay increase in the first year and 4 percenf increases in later years. Hawaiianh has offered only 1 percent increases in each year of the contracgt unless the pilots agree to fly longer hours and agred toother work-rule concessions that would essentially narrow the definition of when a pilot is on the