Aloha Airlines pilots comment on pension issue

Support local airlines and don't fly Mesa

Great article on Capt. Schornstheimer and the Aloha pension. He truly is a hero of Aloha's past and the industry's turmoil is unfair to many of its employees. I'm glad to see that you "get it." Please continue informing the public about the challenges endured by the employees and the families of the LOCAL airlines (Aloha and Hawaiian). Not Mainland Mesa/go! Fly a local airline and support a LOCAL OHANA!

Low pensions will hurt future pool of talent

Thanks for your factual article on the Aloha pilots pension issue. I'm a 47-year-old captain at Aloha Airlines, and while I'm very disappointed with how my future retirement has been eroded, I'm really feeling bad for soon-to-retire and recently retired pilots. I have time to adjust. They don't!

Every airline pilot has had at least one airborne incident where the lives of the passengers and cabin crew hang on the time-critical decisions made by cockpit flight crew. Essentially, pilots are not paid for when things are going right. We are paid to be there when things go WRONG! When things go really wrong, we all want a highly trained and talented aviator like Capt. Bob Schornstheimer at the controls. Bob worked miracles in landing that severely damaged aircraft at Kahului Airport on Maui over 18 years ago. While I'm sure that the traveling public will always appreciate Bob's flying skill, as a professional pilot, I am in AWE of his skill! Capt. Schornstheimer and First Officer (now Capt.) Mimi Tompkins literally and figuratively accomplished the impossible that day when they saved 100 people's lives. How can we place a monetary value on that?

With Bob now drawing a retirement substantially below that of teachers, city bus drivers or even some low-level state employees, it is obvious that our formal government and corporate bureaucracies do not appreciate a man who can save 100 lives in a desperate situation. So, I ask the rhetorical question: How is professional aviation going to attract the young man or woman with the skills to replace Bob when he is so poorly appreciated? Bob is a humble man, and will never make the point himself, but BOB WILL NOT BE REPLACED! As the old saying goes, "You get what you pay for. ..." and the air traveling public may be in for a rude awakening as more and more "Bobs" retire and people with the talent to replace him choose not to enter aviation.

Benefits were earned, not a promised gift

Thanks for the comprehensive and truthful article about the Aloha pilot pension dilemma. Those benefits are not some kind of a promised gift. We earned them (in lieu of salary upfront) over a lifetime of work, safely carrying Hawaii's people between the islands.

I hope Aloha management keeps their promise to help restore the plan, now that the legislation has become law. Realistically, I'm not optimistic about their sincerity in taking back the obligation they so easily shed with the help of the bankruptcy court.

Non-vested pilots losing everything

I would like to thank you for writing the article about what is happening with the Aloha pilots' pension and bringing this issue out into the public. It is a sad state of affairs in America when thousands of workers are losing their pensions or having benefits severely cut, while the executives of these same companies have their pensions protected, and in some cases they even get a bonus. (Check out the American Airlines case that ended up costing Don Carty his job. Then he magically showed up on the board at the new airline, Virgin America)

I would like to mention one thing you left out of your article. You said that "... reductions could range from 30-90 percent. ..." Well, in fact, for over 100 current Aloha pilots, the reduction is 100 percent. The pension plan had a five-year vesting period. There are over 100 current Aloha pilots that did not have five years of service as of the termination date. So they are not vested and, according to the PBGC, they will get no pension payments when they retire. It is bad enough that many of Aloha's pilots will have a severe cut in their pension benefits, but the bottom third of the seniority list will lose everything they were promised when they were hired.

Federal agencies present 'Catch 22'

Thank you for your article on the Aloha pilots pension debacle, and our ongoing fight to get Aloha Airlines to restore our pensions.

As a 22-year captain with Aloha, my pension stands to lose 53 percent of its value, as long as PBGC has control of our underfunded account.

Pension promises play a big part in career decisions, and Aloha pilots have flown around the clock for over 60 years with these "pension guarantees" paramount in our minds for our security in old age.

Aloha's pilots stand, and have stood, for safety and the airline since 1946. The company should stand tall on their pension promises. Anything less is a sad disappointment in the trust we pilots put in Aloha's promises to us.

The ultimate "Catch 22" applies here. Two federal agencies are out of step with one another. FAA forces pilots to retire at age 60, and then PBGC penalizes pilots for taking "EARLY retirement" and not working until age 65. Then, PBGC shortchanges our benefits by 33 percent!

Thank you for your continued coverage of this critical pension issue to Aloha pilots, active and retired.

Thousands get hurt by corporate greed

I would like to thank you for being the only reporter in the islands who really understands the significance of the pension issue our workers face. While the pilots across the country may be the hardest hit by the attack on the defined-benefit plans, thousands upon thousands are affected by this corporate greed.

I look forward to your continued reporting on this subject.

Canceled pensions affect more than pilots

Thanks for the article bringing the plight of our pension to the public eye. Pilots have never garnered much sympathy from the general public. However, this topic is such that it could easily touch many of the same public. The defined-benefit pensions are fast becoming a thing of the past, with existing ones headed down the same sorry road ours has gone. Each of us has an opinion on this subject and will keep a close eye on future developments. When maintenance gets too expensive, it is farmed out to the lowest, overseas bidder. Looks like the same thing has been done with our pensions. Thanks again for your interest.