Flight attendants’
union rejects
United Air offer
By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The union for United Airlines flight attendants said today it has rejected a company proposal to keep all of its attendants based in Hawaii but working the new Tokyo -Seattle direct flights instead of Hawaii -Japan flights.

The airline offered the change over the weekend as a way to prevent having to move 300 -plus jobs out of Hawaii to other bases.

But the union said it is only a short -term solution, subject to cancelation in 90 days, and United also wants all of its 794 Hawaii members to give up their Hawaii cost -of -living allowance of $90-$130 a month per employee.

Gov. Ben Cayetano talked to the union and to Norm Reeder, United managing director -Hawaii, in separate sessions Saturday, trying to bring them into agreement.

After the meeting, both sides said they welcomed the governor's efforts to keep the jobs in Hawaii and that they would keep talking.

"We look forward to working with management to find a long -term solution that both sides find equitable," said James Kaneshiro, president of United Airlines Local Executive Council 14 of the Association of Flight Attendants.

United's Reeder said as far as the company is concerned, the doors are open, and Cayetano urged the union to be more flexible and United to be more considerate of the disruption in Hawaii lives and jobs.

United proposes to fly the Hawaii attendants free to Tokyo's Narita Airport, where they would work a flight to Seattle, work a flight back to Narita and fly back home, Reeder said. If the union accepts that, "we will not surplus anyone but we're going to eat a lot more expense," such as paying for hotel rooms to accommodate the Hawaii employees in Japan and Seattle, Reeder said. United wants the union to give back something by temporarily dropping the cost -of -living allowance, he said.

The union said United should come up with a better deal, particularly in light of the record $418 million second -quarter profit reported by its parent, UAL Corp.