Entries Tagged 'Tourism' ↓

Hawaiian Airlines pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), declared today that they believe their contract negotiations are at an impasse and asked the federal government to release them from mediation, a process that could start the clock for a future pilots’ strike at the airline.

In a letter sent to the National Mediation Board (NMB) on behalf of the Hawaiian pilots, ALPA President John Prater outlined three years of stalled negotiations where HAL management has repeatedly demanded contract concessions from its workers while the airline soared to unprecedented profits and richly rewarded its senior executives.

“The Company continues to insist that its present business plan requires significant sacrifice from pilots and other employees. That position is not justified by either the competitive environment, the Company’s place in the industry, or its present financial condition,” Prater said. “There is simply no reason to believe that the Company will change its position without the imposition of a deadline and the possible release from mediation. The Association believes that further mediation is not likely to lead to an agreement and that further bargaining, in the absence of a proffer, will be futile.”

In response, Hawaiian Airlines released a brief statement:

“ALPA’s request is nothing more than posturing for negotiations, which continue with the oversight of the National Mediation Board. Hawaiian remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with its pilots union.”

ALPA formally requested that the NMB end its mediation efforts and issue a Proffer of Arbitration to both parties. If the Board makes a proffer and either ALPA or Hawaiian declines to enter binding arbitration, the two sides would be released from mediation and will enter a 30-day cooling-off period after which the parties are free to take self-help. At that point Hawaiian’s pilots could strike.

Capt. Eric Sampson, chairman of ALPA’s Hawaiian group, said the final straw came last week, when the company announced a $30.7 million net profit for the 3rd quarter of 2009 at the same time they asked pilots, in large part, to fund pay increases with productivity savings and work rule changes. The Company continued its track record as one of the most successful airlines in the United States and put it on target to record over a $100 million profit for the year.

With that profit, like last year, company executives will share millions of dollars in bonus money – enough, in fact, to fund the contract improvements ALPA is seeking. The bonuses and awards that Hawaiian gave to just its top five executives in 2008 are almost double the amount ALPA has asked for in 2010 pay raises for its more than 400 HAL pilots. HAL CEO Mark Dunkerley alone received a 42 percent increase in his total compensation in 2008.

“Our pilots have worked under a bankruptcy-era contract for almost five years, while the airline made more and more money. Every time the Company needed help, we stepped up to the plate,” Sampson said. “We helped them emerge from bankruptcy, we made acquiring new Airbus A-330s possible by agreeing to fly those larger planes for the same rate we fly our current Boeing aircraft, and we waived work rules to fly more hours so the Company could fill the void left when Aloha and ATA stopped flying.”

“To us, ‘ohana’ and ‘aloha’ aren’t just company marketing slogans. They mean something. We’ve had enough and we’re stating simply that pilots and other employees have to be rewarded the same way that management rewards itself for the Company’s unprecedented success and extraordinary financial performance,” Sampson stated.

In a strike authorization vote taken earlier this fall, 98 percent of participating HAL pilots gave their leadership the go-ahead to declare a strike if the NMB releases ALPA to self-help. It would be the first walkout in Hawaiian’s 80-year history.

In 1929, only the most intrepid adventurers were familiar with the miracle of flight. So the visionary founders of Inter-Island Airways sought out the sturdiest, most comfortable aircraft of the day to introduce Hawaii residents to air travel: the Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker.

Inter-Island Airways, later renamed Hawaiian Airlines, would go on to introduce Hawaii’s first scheduled air service between the islands with two amphibious Sikorsky S-38 planes. But it was the Bellanca that got residents used to the idea of traveling by air. And now, 80 years later, the Bellanca is returning to grace the skies over Honolulu once again.

Hawaiian Airlines has found the historic plane and is bringing it back to Hawaii in time to celebrate its 80th anniversary on November 11, 2009.

Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO, commented, “It is humbling to think that the countless flights flown, the hundreds of millions of passengers carried and all the aviation ‘firsts’ our company has been responsible for started 80 years ago with this very airplane. It is a source of tremendous pride to all of us at Hawaiian Airlines that we will be bringing this seminal piece of Hawaii’s history back to where it belongs.”

Hawaiian located the antique airplane with an aviation enthusiast in Oregon and organized a largely volunteer restoration project to return the plane to flying condition at Port Townsend Aero Museum in Washington. Pratt & Whitney, manufacturer of the vintage motor that powers the Bellanca as well as the jet engines on 14 of Hawaiian’s current fleet of aircraft, is helping to underwrite the project.

“As one of the earliest pioneers of aviation, Pratt & Whitney’s proud history of designing, building and servicing dependable engines began nearly 85 years ago,” said Jim Guiliano, vice president of Global Customer Services for Pratt & Whitney. “This Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker is powered with a refurbished Pratt & Whitney WASP engine, and we are happy to help underwrite its restoration to commemorate Hawaiian Airlines’ 80th anniversary.”

Hawaiian is making plans for special flights and public appearances for the plane following its arrival and reassembly on Oahu in September.

In September 1929, company founder Stanley C. Kennedy, Jr. acquired the Bellanca theorizing that people in Hawaii would more quickly accept the revolutionary concept of flying over water to the other islands if they could see and experience the wonders of flight in the skies above Honolulu.

Thus, the company began as an operator of sightseeing tours over Honolulu with the Bellanca and later began Hawaii’s first scheduled interisland air service using the two Sikorsky S-38 amphibian planes. Hawaii’s first airline has been serving the islands continuously ever since.

Startup interisland airline go! — a subsidiary of Phoenix-based Mesa Airlines — has extended its $29 one-way fare through the end of the year. Veteran competitors Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines quickly matched the offer. Some restrictions apply, of course, and the sale prices are available only through Friday. This latest volley in Hawaii’s air war comes as go! released its traffic figures for July, showing a decline in passengers since June — its first month of business. The new airline’s load factor fell to 73 percent from 83 percent, although according to Pacific Business News, the lower figure is more in line with industry norms and estimates by Aloha. Hawaiian reported its planes were 89 percent full in July.

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Despite a continuing decline in the number of visitors from Japan, Hawaii still saw an increase in its overall visitor count in June thanks to strong growth in travelers from the U.S. and Canada, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT). In fact, Hawaii’s visitor industry is moving at record pace, with overall visitor spending up by over 8 percent, hitting $1.1 billion for the month. “For each of the past three months we have realized positive growth in total visitor days and expenditures,” said State Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert. “The domestic market continues to perform above expectations.”

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United Airlines is bringing back its daily non-stop service between its hub in Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Honolulu in June. “This flight will answer the call from our customers in the Chicagoland area for daily, nonstop access to the beaches and sunshine of Hawaii,” said airline spokesman John Tague. The airline has extensive services between the Mainland and Hawaii, and also recently announced the addition of a second daily non-stop flight between Tokyo and Honolulu.

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Delta Airlines will resume its daily nonstop flights between Honolulu and its Atlanta hub tomorrow, with the 3:15 p.m. arrival of Flight 93. The nation’s second-largest airline announced the revived 4,500-mile route in May. Delta already flies daily nonstop Honolulu routes to Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Gov. Linda Lingle has said her administration is “delighted” with the news. “This will enhance the overall load capacity to Hawai�i, and give residents and visitors an additional route to the East Coast,” she said. “[It] shows great confidence in the long-term strength of Hawaii�s tourism and business market.”

The Hawai`i Tourism Authority announced today that for the first time, it will negotiate with several companies to market Hawai`i in specific regional markets rather than assigning worldwide rights to the Hawai`i Visitors and Convention Bureau. Nonetheless, the HVCB will receive the lion’s share, enlisted to handle North America as well as business travel marketing globally. The HVCB recently came under fire in a legislative audit, and its president and CEO resigned on Tuesday.

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Four of the five people killed Wednesday in a sightseeing helicopter crash on Kaua`i have been identified. Denver TV station KUSA reported today that two area residents, Jeff and Monica Peterson, both 33, died in the crash. It also named 53-year-old Teresa M. Wadiak of Virginia. The pilot had previously been identified as Mark Lundgren, 44, of Kalaheo. The body of the fifth victim was only recovered this morning from the crash site on the slopes of Mount Waialeale.

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The president and chief executive officer of the Hawai`i Visitors and Convention Bureau resigned yesterday, three weeks after a state audit slammed the private agency for excessive and inappropriate spending. “I have decided that it is in the best interests of our Island communities that I resign,” Tony Vericella said in a statement. “HVCB will be better able to move forward with the essential task of marketing the state of Hawai�i unimpeded by the issues surrounding the legislative auditors� report.”

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Honolulu is one of “America’s Favorite Cities,” according to results of a survey released yesterday. In a joint poll by AOL and Travel+Leisure magazine, Honolulu topped two of the eight general categories — “The Basics” and “People“ — and ranked in the top ten in all the others. It even took second for “Romance” despite coming in dead last in one subcategory: “Meeting Someone New.”

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