Many United
flight attendants start
grueling commutes

As of tomorrow, about 300
isle-based attendants have
to find new routes

By Peter Wagner
Star-Bulletin

She leaves for work tomorrow and will be back in five days.

It won't be easy for Debora Adams, a United Airlines flight attendant whose commute has gone from a 20-minute drive to Honolulu to a five-hour flight to San Francisco.

"I don't think it has really sunk in how difficult the actual commuting will be," said Adams, a single mother who hasn't left her children -- Brandon, 9, and Chelsea, 7 -- for more than two days at a stretch.

But like many of the 300 United Airlines attendants being transferred out of Hawaii, Adams isn't ready to leave.

United in August told 300 of nearly 800 Hawaii-based flight attendants they would have to find routes on the mainland or elsewhere after Oct. 31.

The company, which recently ended service to Osaka, is cutting its work force in Hawaii because of reduced flights to Japan. United later offered to keep the attendants in Hawaii with reduced allowances and longer schedules. But in a twist that shocked the attendants, their 23,000-member Association of Flight Attendants union last month voted down United's offer.

While some of the attendants have moved to mainland and foreign cities, Adams is among more than 100 employees planning to commute from their Hawaii homes. It won't be cheap.

Staying in a "commuter apartment" shared by 10 flight attendants in San Francisco will cost Adams $200 a month, not including taxis and other costs. And she is expecting a pay cut of $3 an hour because her new flights will be domestic rather than international.

Adams plans to commute at least until next summer, when her kids are out of school. By then the six-month passes offered by United to help relocate employees will expire, and she'll be on her own, looking for a rare jump seat or paying $30 to $50 to fly.

"I don't know how people are going to do it," she said, noting it's already hard to find standby seats on West Coast flights, even in the off-season.

She's reluctantly considering a move to Seattle.

"If I can't live in Hawaii, at least I can move to another state that's more affordable," Adams said.

But other attendants are determined to stick it out in Hawaii despite the difficulties.

"I try to keep optimistic about it because there's no alternative," said Beverly Long of Sunset Beach, who plans to fly to her new base in San Francisco indefinitely.

Also a single mother, Long can't see taking her 8-year-old son, Chase, away from Hawaii and his father. "It would be devastating," she said.

The commute will cost her more than $1,000 a month -- $200 for a group apartment, $800 in wages for a reduced work schedule and up to $50 a seat to commute after her pass expires.

"I don't want to be gone from my son any more than I am now," said Long, who is cutting her schedule from 85 to 70 hours a month. "Being a flight attendant, you're gone enough."

Others have taken a different tack.

Some 27 attendants, most of them single parents, have applied for "ground jobs" as reservations clerks or customer service agents. The jobs involve longer hours and a 50 percent cut in pay, but it's a way to stay in Hawaii.

"My son and I just went through a tremendous change in lifestyle," said Keiko Garvin, a divorcee with a 10-year-old son. "He's enjoying his school and has so many friends here. I cannot pull him away from that."

While the 9-to-5 job will hurt her income, staying on the ground will avoid the cost of baby sitters, which can top $1,000 a month for commuting attendants. And she'll have more time for her son Michael, a student at Ala Wai Elementary School.

But Garvin, who owns a condominium in Moiliili, is leaving the door open.

"I may go back in a year," she said. "I'm trying to stay here."

Some have been fortunate, dodging the bullet when senior attendants not targeted for transfer volunteered to move.

Brigitta Osterholt, a Hawaii Kai resident and mother of two children, is among 84 attendants who won such a reprieve. But it didn't come easily.

"It's not being able to sleep and worrying if you can stay or not," Osterholt said. "It really takes a toll on you."

Meanwhile, a Kailua couple decided to make the most of their transfer. Attendants Jeff Shimanoff and his wife, Denise Pennick, plan to pack up their two sons, Christopher and Jackson, and move to Paris.

"We're apprehensive about leaving Hawaii after 16 years and moving to a foreign culture, but it will be a good experience for our kids," said Shimanoff.

The family is not sure what to do with their newly remodeled house in a soft real estate market, but they've got time to ponder: They plan to stay until next summer when the boys are out of school.

In the meantime? They'll commute.