Court orders trustee for Hawaiian

[Hugh Jorgan]

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/May/16/br/br03p.html


Any ideas as to how this will influence the outcome of events for HAL? What does this mean for Adams?

 

[Freight Dog]

So far, no U.S. airline made it out of bankruptcy with a trustee at helm. For the sakes of employees of Hawaiian Airlines, I hope they become the first to make it through.

 

[HAL]

I'm guessing we will be the first, Freight Dog.

The judge, the creditors committee, and Boeing have all said there is no interest or need in liquidating Hawaiian. It's just that with Adams in the way, it would be difficult to come to a conclusion that helps everyone. He had become a liability to the company, and although Adams is a smart bankruptcy player, it finally just got out of his hands when Boeing steped in. He's played the game before, but finally lost this time. It was a very clear-cut case of removing Adams to help us move along and get out of Ch11 quicker.

The message this morning from our President (before the ruling) said that our loads are up, advance bookings are up, and the past few months we have had the best on-time record in the industry.

From the perspective of this soon-to-be furloughee, I think it's a step in the right direction.

HAL

P.S. That doesn't mean I've got blinders on either. The resume is in the mail to Aloha too!

 

[AQ PILOT]

future furloughee?

i heard from one of your guys the other day that you were getting to recall. whats the true scoop?

 

[HAL]

I also heard the rumor about recalls starting in July. As for the truth - who knows?

What I do know is that I just saw the practice bid for June. Miles and miles of open time, and practicaly nobody to fly it. Unless they really want to start putting two Captains into the cockpit, I'm guessing some of us will be back soon.

HAL

 

[islandhopper]

I also heard the rumor about recalls starting in July. As for the truth - who knows?

What I do know is that I just saw the practice bid for June. Miles and miles of open time, and practicaly nobody to fly it.

HAL

Some airlines! Why do they do this? I cant figure out how this was supposed to save money. Try not to leave us hanging out here by ourselves ok! I dont think anybody at Aloha really wants to see Hawaiian disappear. Keep it flying!

 

[AQ PILOT]

I probably shouldn't say this, but....

Yeah, we all want HAL to keep flying. Otherwise someone who knows what they are doing will come into this market and put Aloha out of business. The only way we've both survived this long is both companies are screwy.....

 

[Freight Dog]

Here's how it makes sense:

You have an FO who takes home 75 hours each month for sitting on reserve at say $80/hr, but only flies 10 hours each month which was originally open time. So he ends up getting paid for 65 more hours.

Now, let's assume a line holder FO is there pick up that open, and you pay him $120/hr to fly those 10 hours of open.

$80/hr x 75 hrs = $6000
$120/hr x 10 hrs = $1200

You eliminate the number of reserves, put loads of open time up there for grabs, the top end people are happy, as they get more cash, the company ends up saving money, and junior folks get furloughed. The only thing that can stop that is people not picking up open time, or contractual cap like we have.

That's why I'm glad we don't get paid over 80 hours, so there's no incentive to fly any opens, and screw junior people out of jobs. Great job protection for us junior folks!

 

[islandhopper]

Re: I probably shouldn't say this, but....

Yeah, we all want HAL to keep flying. Otherwise someone who knows what they are doing will come into this market and put Aloha out of business. The only way we've both survived this long is both companies are screwy.....

I guess what would really burn me alive is if HAL tanked and somebody started running RJ's out here. Non union or union no matter. I think its just a matter of time. I hope HAL gets their $hit together and AQ gets stronger quick so if and when that day comes (together) we can line and takers up alongside with Mid Pac, Discovery and Mahalo the way we always did it.

The only thing keeping any other start-ups out of Hawaii right now is the ticket fares are too low. They are also aware of the fiercely socialist government in Hawaii. You never know though. If HAL tanked this year somebody may get visions of palm trees and trade winds and surf and try something stupid (for them).