Talk Story - The Hawaiian Airlines Pilot Podcast

With Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines attaining Single Operating Certificate (SOC) status at the end of October, the two airlines are now a single carrier from the FAA’s perspective. To discuss how this marks an important transition for our pilot groups, Alaska MEC Chair Will McQuillen and Hawaiian MEC Chair Larry Payne sit down to offer their perspective on the state of the merger and what comes next with respect to our joint contract negotiations and the evolution of the airline. They also discuss recent hiring trends, route announcements, and important changes to our contract language that will come into effect later this year. Hawaiian MEC website: hal.alpa.org Joint ALA-HAL website: alahal.alpa.org

In this episode, our Alaska and Hawaiian MEC Chairs, Will McQuillen and Larry Payne, sat down to provide their thoughts on the recent announcements about the Seattle 787 base and the future aircraft orders. The discussion also touched on the status of JCBA negotiations and what pilots can expect moving forward.

In this episode of Talk Story, we’re putting the spotlight on our HAL MEC Representatives. We have three new HNL LEC 065 Representatives who took office at the beginning of March – Block 1 Rep. Dan Moore, Block 3 Rep. Justen Taafaki, and Block 4 Rep. Makoa Gaughen-Haili. In the first segment, we discuss their experiences as incoming Reps, what inspired them to serve, their interactions with the Alaska Reps, and their primary goals for their current terms. In the second segment, we bring in our CVG LEC 060 Representative Trent Madsen, who talks through the challenges facing our freight pilots and their successes in navigating this growing operation. We also discuss his unique perspective on being the sole freight representative as well as a representative for a majority-commuter pilot base. Hawaiian pilots can click below to access the contact information for their respective MEC Representative: LEC 060 - CVG LEC 065 - HNL

We’re approaching one year since the initial Alaska-Hawaiian merger announcement. In this episode, Hawaiian MEC Chair Larry Payne and Merger Committee Chair Eric Thorstad give an overview of the potential changes that are coming as a result of the merger, what effects they might have, and the ways our pilots can make an impact on the process. Among the topics covered: Current JCBA Follow-Up Survey & Pilot Participation Potential Route Changes TPA Protections Value of LEC Representation Average Line Value & Reduced Block Merger Committee Communications & Feedback Seniority List Integration (SLI) Data Verification MEC Ground School Lunches For more information about the Merger Committee and the SLI process, please listen to our previous episode from January where we discuss ALPA’s Section 45 (Merger Policy): Apple Podcasts Spotify Podbean

In this episode, Co-hosts Alaska Communications Chair David Campbell and Hawaiian Communications Chair Mike Davis interview Alaska MEC Chair Will McQuillen and Hawaiian MEC Chair Larry Payne. Captains McQuillen and Payne discuss the vision they share for the collective future of a combined pilot group and the critical importance of pilot unity, engagement, and feedback in upcoming contract negotiations. In addition to the episode’s audio content, please watch the video linked below to hear more from the two Union Chairs and other pilots from each carrier. VIDEO (https://alahal.alpa.org/announcement) JOINT MEC WEBSITE (https://alahal.alpa.org/)

In this episode, we'll be covering two separate developments coming in the next two weeks: the beginning of negotiations for a Transition and Process Agreement (TPA) and Hawaiian MEC Officer elections, both happening in early May. Discussing both topics are HAL MEC Chair Larry Payne and Joint Negotiating Committee member Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz, along with HAL Communications Chair Mike Davis. Through the discussion, the group tackles a number of questions, including: What are the next steps in the strategic plan? [1:37] What’s in a TPA and why is it important? [2:42] How does the new CVG LEC affect the seniority block system? [16:18] Why are we changing how MEC Officer elections are conducted? [19:03] How do the MEC Officer elections work? [21:00] With TPA negotiations beginning May 1, and MEC Officer elections May 6-8, now is a great time to listen and learn more about the upcoming events.

On December 3, Hawaiian Airlines announced a merger agreement with Alaska Airlines. To talk about what the merger process will look like going forward for our pilot group, MEC Chair Larry Payne, Joint Negotiating Committee appointee Rob Willoughby, and Merger Committee Chair Eric Thorstad joined Communications Chair Mike Davis for an in-depth discussion of the merger. Among the topics discussed: an overview of the merger process, preparations for Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) negotiations, major tenets of ALPA Merger Policy, and the logistics of Seniority List Integration. Episode recorded December 22, 2023

This month, we're taking the scenic route on our HAL Contract Explained series, as Block 3 Rep. Sean Kimura is joined by Negotiating Committee Member Rob Willoughby and Secretary Treasurer Sean Lee to dive into the details of PWA Section 6: Vacation! Listen as Rob explains the finer points of our vacation contract language: how we accrue and use vacation, how the number of slots is determined, how vacation can be cancelled, and more! For more information, check out our custom HCE: Vacation infographics: Vacation Bidding: https://tinyurl.com/bde43khs Vacation Accrual: https://tinyurl.com/4cspjkxw Vacation Modification: https://tinyurl.com/yu9762tt

Listen to the second episode of our HAL Contract Explained series, covering the topic of scope! Scope is the foundation of an airline union contract, ensuring our job security. In this episode, Secretary-Treasurer Sean Lee sits down with Scope Chair Doug Brayham and Negotiating Committee Member Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz to discuss protections surrounding feeder carriers, code shares, and joint ventures. To help summarize the topics discussed, we’ve provided the following infographics for handy reference: Scope – Feeder Carriers and Code Shares: https://tinyurl.com/26yh8st8 Scope – International Code Shares: https://tinyurl.com/2rux6hd4 Scope – Joint Ventures: https://tinyurl.com/p9b6kpvr

This episode kicks off our brand new "HAL Contract Explained" series, where we break down one contract subject each month with our contract experts. The first episode features Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz from the Negotiating Committee, as we discuss the subject of Deadheads. We also recommend looking at these handy infographics, which help break down the subjects covered in the episode: HCE Deadhead - General: https://tinyurl.com/42c7actwHCE Deadhead - Seating Assignments: https://tinyurl.com/wje8dzua Please send any feedback on our new series to halcommunications@alpa.org.

Negotiating Committee member Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz sits down with MEC Block 4 Rep. Sean Lee to discuss the new bidding and scheduling language negotiated as part of our new Tentative Agreement. Among the changes discussed: the 24-hour scheduling system, reserve changes (including long call reserve and biddable RAPs) scheduling flexibility, bidding within the Average Line Value system, new order of assignments, and more. (Originally published February 2023)

Thinking of bidding cargo? Join HAL MEC Cargo Committee Chairman George Chetcuti in a discussion on exactly what it takes to fly freight. George is a former DHL cargo pilot with 33 years of ALPA service. We’ll also hear from HAL MEC Chairman Captain Larry Payne and ALPA Contract Administrator Brett Eckelberg recap the year 2022 for Hawaiian Airlines.