Hawaiian says it’s
making headway
on restructuring
By Dave Segal Hawaiian Airlines said in a memo to its employees it has "essentially" worked out an agreement with two of its three aircraft lessors and that Boeing Capital Corp. remains the "one major barrier" to achieving the carrier's restructuring objectives.
dsegal@starbulletin.com
The memo, dated Friday, also said the airline is developing backup plans that will protect its flight operations if it cannot come to terms with the financing unit of Boeing Co. An earlier motion filed by Boeing Capital said Hawaiian had been seeking $20 million in annual concessions from the three aircraft lessors.
Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner said today he would not elaborate on the memo.
"It's employee communications and we don't comment as a matter of policy," Wagner said.
International Lease Finance Corp., which has leased Hawaiian four 767s, and Ansett Worldwide, which has leased Hawaiian seven 767s with another one due to be delivered in May, both were unavailable for comment. Hawaiian leases 16 planes from Boeing.
Hawaiian also said in the memo it was not going to settle for lease terms that fall short of the cost savings it needs to be viable. The airline lost $58.3 million last year.
"The last thing we want is to have to ask for more concessions from employees later because we didn't get enough from the lessors," the memo said.
Four of the airlines' five unions have ratified concession agreements totaling more than $15 million. Only the dispatchers, represented by Transport Workers Union Local 540, have yet to agree on $186,000 in labor cost reductions. A vote that was expected late last week was delayed for an undetermined reason.
Meanwhile, Boeing Capital spokesman Russ Young declined to say how far apart the company is from Hawaiian in their negotiations but said Boeing Capital wasn't going to compromise its long-term position.
"Our focus, direction and plan have not changed from what we have shared with the airlines' management for nearly a year," Young said. "We are not going to settle for lease terms that change the long-term commitment in order to address a short-term problem. We have to consider the best interests of all of our customers, our employees and our shareholders."
Young also said Boeing Capital has yet to extend a May 20 deadline that would allow it to start repossessing its aircraft the following day. Boeing Capital is seeking a trustee to replace Hawaiian's management in overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings and said in a hearing last week it was negotiating a two-week extension on that May 20 deadline.
Hawaiian Airlines