Hawaiian Air pilots escalating negotiations is no surprise. A few moths ago Hawaiian Airlines pilots voted to offer a strike. The strike vote was overwhelming supported by Hawaiians 600 pilots. Of them, 99% voted in favor of a strike. And now, The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the labor union that represents Hawaiian’s cockpit crews, has stated they will open a strike-operation center in September.
The actions being taken by Hawaiian Air’s pilots and ALPA don’t surprise me one bit. The date that the strike-operation center will open on, September 14, marks one year since the pilots’ contract expired. Hawaiian’s pilots and ALPA claim that they make 45% less than their peers when compared to other mainline carriers. ALPA is requesting a 52% increase in compensation during the first year of Hawaiian’s cockpit crew contract. That’s an increase of $74 million/year for the 600 pilots.
For their part, Hawaiian has said that a wide-body captain with 12 years of seniority gets paid $242,000 a year for 700 hours of flying. They also receive free, lifetime medical for themselves and theirs spouse upon retirement from Hawaiian. The airline also contributes between 15% to 19.4% annually to their 401k.
I don’t know how much an equivalent pilot gets paid at, say, American, Delta, Alaska, etc. but Hawaiian was also in the news a little while ago for another labor dispute. In that dispute, they basically decided to slash the pay of their dispatchers. Of course, this all comes at a time when the airline is making record profits.
The opening of the strike-operation center, though, does not mean a strike is imminent. ALPA has asked the US National Mediation Board to release them from federal mediation. If this happens, it would trigger an offer of binding arbitration, which either side can reject. Once rejected a 30-day cooling-off period would need to pass before the pilot can strike. ALPA says by opening the strike-operation center on September 14, though, will allow them to strike immediately once they’re able to.