Aloha Air offers
plan to avert
cuts in jobs

Economic losses would be made
up by changing work hours

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

Aloha Airlines has a plan it says could bring back its 250 laid-off employees on Nov. 1 and instead spread the company's financial pain through its entire work force.

The plan calls for every employee, from President Glenn R. Zander down, to change their work hours, in effect giving up two days' pay a month, while the airline recovers from lost business in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The proposal, distributed to the airline's 3,000 employees, is detailed in a company newsletter and has been shown to legislators, said Aloha spokesman Stu Glauberman.

"Employees are to discuss it and decide whether they want to participate," he said. If every employee agrees to the pay cut, all furloughed workers will come back at the start of November, he said.

The airline reduced its schedule Sept. 24 by cutting 37 daily interisland flights, or about 25 percent of its interisland schedule, and immediately laid off workers.

Aloha's proposal says that if business begins to climb, workers would be docked one day's pay a month. If it gets back to normal, they would need no pay cuts.

"The plan will be implemented only if all employees participate," said the letter to employees.

Fast action is needed, and "upon implementation, all furloughed employees will be recalled," the letter said.

The airline is taking the position that the pay cuts would not violate union agreements. Unions representing Aloha's employees could not be reached for comment yesterday.