Release #09.HAL15
December 23, 2009

Hawaiian Pilots Welcome Tentative Contract Agreement

HONOLULU – After nearly three years in contract negotiations, pilots at Hawaiian Airlines are welcoming the opportunity to vote on a tentative agreement that, if ratified by members, will result in a new contract.

Negotiators for ALPA and Hawaiian Airlines hammered out the deal on December 18 after nearly two weeks of grueling, nonstop bargaining under the supervision of the National Mediation Board (NMB), including a marathon final session that lasted almost 36 hours.

“The MEC believes this is the fair and affordable contract we fought so long for,” said HAL Master Executive Council (MEC) Chairman Capt. Eric Sampson. “It includes significant improvements in pay and retirement, while at the same time preserving and strengthening important work rules and other significant areas of our contract. We’re pleased we were able to bring value to both the pilots and the Company.”

The proposed 68-month agreement would include double-digit pay increases and profit-sharing for HAL’s widebody and interisland pilots, as well as increased company retirement contributions.

“One of the major goals for this round of contract negotiations was to ensure that every pilot whose defined benefit pension was frozen and replaced with a target benefit pension during the 2005 bankruptcy would receive the same benefit level they would have had under the old system, and we’re confident that with these changes we will achieve that,” Sampson said.

Pilot leaders and Negotiating Committee members will soon begin a series of roadshows, teleconference briefings and other events in Honolulu and on the west coast to provide details of the agreement to the membership. After the education campaign is completed, Hawaiian’s 436 ALPA pilots will vote on whether to ratify the agreement.

“The MEC and the negotiating team would like to publicly thank all of our pilots for their strong support during this lengthy process. We fully support this agreement and we look forward to sharing the details with them in the coming weeks,” Sampson said.

“This Hawaiian tentative agreement, like the Delta/Northwest and Alaska contracts before it, recognizes that pilots deserve to recapture pay and benefits denied or taken away during bankruptcy era negotiations,” said ALPA President Capt. John Prater. “The Air Line Pilots Association, International also appreciates the valuable assistance provided by the NMB.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing more than 53,000 pilots at 37 airlines in the United States and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.

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ALPA Contacts: Eric Sampson 808-836-2572 eric.sampson@alpa.org
Rusty Ayers 847-323-9519 rusty.ayers@alpa.org