Talk Story - The Hawaiian Airlines Pilot Podcast

One of the core functions of a labor organization is ensuring the contract is appropriately enforced. In this episode, ALA Grievance Chair Larry Freer and HAL Grievance Chair Iam Bouret discuss how our Grievance Committees operate behind the scenes to defend our contracts. The two Chairs and their respective committees monitor contract violations, engage with the Company to enforce the contract, and advocate on pilots’ behalf...

Negotiations with Alaska Management for a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) continue, with limited progress since the start of the year for the Alaska and Hawaiian pilot groups. At the same time, Alaska Airlines recently announced major fleet changes, including the addition of five new freight aircraft (one A330, four 737s) and the future transition from the Boeing 717 to the 737-800 for interisland Hawaii flying.

To out...

Life on the road is part of a pilot's career. To ensure those nights away from home are spent in safe, hospitable hotel rooms, the Hawaiian pilots' contract sets appropriate standards of quality. To ensure that contract language is enforced, HAL pilots rely on their Hotel Committee.

In this episode, Hotel Committee Chair Ryan Williams breaks down the important work his committee does, and how pilots can assist their efforts. If you...

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 co...

With Hawaiian pilots facing an array of changes related to the Alaska merger, in this episode we’re putting a spotlight on one way the union can help pilots navigate times of stress: our Pilot Assistance Committees. These five committees - Aeromedical, CIRP, HIMS, Pilot Peer Support, and Professional Standards - are staffed by pilot volunteers providing confidential support and guidance to other pilots.

To explain these progr...

In this episode, our Alaska and Hawaiian MEC Chairs, Will McQuillen and Larry Payne, as well as our Joint Negotiating Committee Co-Chairs, David Wilhelm and Doug Grant, all sat down to provide an update on the status of our Alaska-Hawaiian merger and the state of our Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) negotiations. Through the episode, we covered several topics, including the union’s actions during the last six mont...

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 pr...

In our latest episode of Talk Story, HAL MEC Chair Larry Payne and HAL MEC Block 3 Representative Sean Kimura explain what was achieved through the mid-January meetings between the Alaska and Hawaiian MECs, where Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) goals were established. They discuss how the bargaining priorities were determined, the pilot input and feedback that went into those priorities, and a look ahead to the beginni...

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 Participati...

With the merger transaction between Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines now final, the separate pilot groups from each carrier will continue the process of combining into one. A significant part of that includes negotiating a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) under which the new combined pilot group will work. The Master Executive Councils (MECs) of each pilot group, as part of the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALP...

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 epi...

In this episode of Talk Story, HAL MEC Chair Larry Payne and HAL Negotiating Chair Doug Grant sit down with Communications Chair Mike Davis to discuss a number of recent developments, including a 10-day extension of the Department of Justice antitrust review, the ratification of our new Transition and Process Agreement, and the upcoming changes to PWA Section 21 (Bidding) and 22 (Scheduling).

Also, for more details on the bidding ...

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...

This episode, Hawaiian Airlines MEC Chair Larry Payne, ALPA National SPSC Chair Ronan O’Donoghue, and HAL Strategic Planning Committee Chair Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz sit down with HAL Communications Chair Mike Davis for a roundtable discussion of strategic planning. The group gives their thoughts on the purpose of strategic planning and a synopsis of the various methods involved. They also give an overview of the major takeawa...

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, p...

Listen as HAL MEC Strategic Planning Chair Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz discusses our contractual vacancy language with HAL Vacancy Committee Chair Chad Holcomb. The two cover a broad range of topics within vacancies, including bidding timelines, category freezes, activation and effective dates, and much more.

To summarize some of the concepts discussed in the podcast, we’ve put together the following helpful infographics:

Vacanci...

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 mor...