Hawaiian to exit BK on June 1st

[mdanno808]

Spoke to a captain yesterday who spoke directly to Dunkerley. Dunkerely said that there would be no recalls until spring next year. Promises of expansion and new airplanes during contract negotiations is like dangling a carrot in front of a dirt mule. If Hawaiian thinks they will find airplanes in good shape which match our current aircraft on the "used AC market" they are fooling themselves. Again, I hate to say it, but I think that the furloughed are in for a long ride.

 

[Dan Roman]

During negotiations it was thought that they would get the three 767's contingent on exiting BK in April. They were gone by the time we exited. The Spring comment was made as a worst case scenario. As I'm sure you know, things change in this industry very quickly.

 

[mdanno808]

I think that the spring comment was probably a very likely scenario. I whole heartedly would love an earlier recall, I just don't see it in the cards. First, as I'm sure you know, used 767's are out there, but not in a great abundance. Now, narrow those down to 300-ER's with Pratt's. Aircraft which Hawaiian hope to find are few and far between. We missed our chance at the United Birds, and I am afraid now that it may be a long time till we find a plane that fit's our fleet. I have also been told that reconfiguring the cabin takes an extremely long time, and costs an awful lot of cash. The one thing this furlough has taught me is to be pessimistic about any time line Hawaiian's management put's forward. Hope everything is going well on the line.

 

[HAL]

I got the exact same phrase from the chief pilot (through a friend who talked directly to him). No hiring until at least next spring if there are no new planes. He said HA is overstaffed by 18, but wouldn't furlough because of the clause in the new contract. However he also said that the reserve guys are averaging 70+ hours a month, and the line holders are averaging 85 - 90. Furlough 18 from that, and you'll see how close the staffing formula is to reality.

I think a number of us have said it here and on other message boards. Gotbaum really s@rewed the pooch by dragging the BK out so long. The opportunities that presented themselves in the last two years were bypassed, and now HA won't have the planes to take advantage of new ones.

Yes, it might change - if someone decides that the desired 'new technology' planes are just too far into the future (delivery positions for the 787 are in 2010, A350 are 2011 - 2012). Hopefully they'll come to their senses and place an order for more new 767's. Those planes work well for HA now, and should for quite a while into the future.

The one thing this furlough has taught me is to be pessimistic about any time line Hawaiian's management put's forward.

And that's one sentiment I completely agree with. I think we've been hopeful long enough. It's time for management to "show me the money".

HAL

 

[mdanno808]

More bad news. A friend of mine who is halfway down the furloughed list was told by Seavy that he should not expect a recall for two years.

 

[HAL]

More bad news. A friend of mine who is halfway down the furloughed list was told by Seavy that he should not expect a recall for two years.

Which would mean they don't expect to expand at all during that time. No growth, no new planes, none of RC's 'plan' for a larger HA. Nothing except a multi-million dollar bankruptcy bill from a slew of lawyers, and another multi-million dollar tab for Gotbaum's 'success fee'.

HAL

 

[Jim]

More bad news. A friend of mine who is halfway down the furloughed list was told by Seavy that he should not expect a recall for two years.

Based solely on attrition/retirements, I can believe this and I would expect to be out for a few more years after that. But I hope RC is actually looking at expansion and new planes. If not, we will soon find ourselves back in the red and returning to bankruptcy.

Supposedly Dunkerly was recently in Europe talking to aircraft leasing companies. Also, the company has supposedly hired a firm that specializes in finding "the right aircraft" and negotiating competative lease rates.

Of course we can never be sure because of the veil of secrecy both management and the MEC like to maintain.

 

[mdanno808]

I hate to be the one to bring the doom and gloom, but how is it that they are just now realizing that finding aircraft compatible with the existing fleet will be difficult? The pilot's have once again been baited with promises of money invested, new planes, and new routes. Hawaiian missed out on expanding during last summers record breaking loads. That was a shame, but understandable because of the BK red tape. This summer looks to surpass last, and we will still miss out on the opportunities that everyone else is taking advantage of. We will sit and watch ATA, AWA, AA, CAL, UAL, NAA, and everyone else who serves the Hawaii market expand while we sit back and watch Dunkerley and the rest of management talk about all of the firms on the payroll to help them find the aircraft we need. Once again, I truly hope I am wrong, but given events of the past, I think it will be a looooong furlough.

 

[Hansoma]

This is just one more example of management by knee-jerk reaction. I just can't imagine that Dunkerly is that short sighted, but maybe so. I would have hoped that they would have been able to come up with an aircraft order that could have been announced when they exited. At least then, at their little party they would have really had something to celebrate. It's not like they didn't have the time over the past two years. The disappointments just keep coming.

 

[Whale Rider]

Hawaiian looks for extra 767s

Source: Flight International
US carrier Hawaiian Airlines is searching for additional Boeing 767s weeks after emerging from bankruptcy protection, in a bid to expand its network, writes Justin Wastnage in Honolulu.

The independent carrier emerged from Chapter 11 on 2 June, over two years after filing for protection from its creditors in the wake of a severe downturn in leisure bookings due to the US invasion of Iraq. Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s chief executive, says the protection period allowed it to restructure and return to a level of profitability, enabling it to pay its debts in full. Changes to labour agreements with flightcrew and maintenance personnel led to a rise in profitability of around 15%, he says.

During the Chapter 11 period, several local and mainland USA-based competitors launched rival services, especially to the US West Coast, as Hawaiian was unable to expand while under protection, Dunkerley says.

The Honolulu-based airline is now seeking to augment its 14 767-300ERs to launch services to northern California, Oregon and Washington states; to increase frequencies to its eight south-western US destinations; and to add routes to Pacific Rim countries. Hawaiian will add services to San José, California in October, but has insufficient capacity to fulfil other expansion hopes, says Dunkerley.

“We can’t guarantee where or when we will acquire, but we are in the market for additional lift. It’s a tight market,” he says.

The carrier flies to American Samoa, French Polynesia, Papeete and Sydney, and has received “positive signals” to enquiries about doubling frequencies to Sydney under the US-Australia bilateral agreement. There are slots available under the US-Japanese bilateral that Hawaiian could use to fly to Japanese regional cities, and New Zealand is another possible destination.