CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Delrie Anderson, a customer service agent for Aloha Airlines cargo, checked in Crispin Baquir's shipment of bread to Hilo yesterday.

Aloha’s planes aloft but case idles in court

» The trustee for the bankrupt airline wants union contracts declared invalid
» The prospective buyer, Saltchuk, meets with an employee group but not with the pilots

With tensions still running high in the Aloha Airlines bankruptcy case, the new trustee asked a judge yesterday to reject all six of the company's union labor contracts.

The motion by trustee Dane Field came amid pleas by the Air Line Pilots Association to meet with Saltchuk Resources, the prospective new buyer of Aloha Air Cargo.

ALPA lashed out at Saltchuk for not meeting with the union over the continued employment of Aloha's pilots -- some of whom began flying cargo Thursday night following a three-day shutdown.

Mike Coffman, president of Saltchuk's newly formed Hawaii subsidiary called Aeko Kula (or "golden eagle"), and other Saltchuk representatives met for several hours yesterday with representatives of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Randy Kauhane, assistant chairman and lead negotiator of IAM District 141, called the discussions "very positive" and said he did not believe Saltchuk to be "anti-union."

Kauhane represents between 200 and 300 cargo agents and supply agents. They are responsible for handling the cargo while it is on the ground.

A hearing is set for May 12 on the motion to reject the union contracts, as well as another motion by the trustee requesting that the court approve the sale of the cargo unit to Saltchuk.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM With Aloha Airlines cargo back in business yesterday, customer service agent Clyde Fujimoto helped Mattie Riingen check in boxes of vegetables bound for the Big Island. Riingen has been shipping goods via Aloha Air since 1990.

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Less than 24 hours after Aloha Airlines' cargo operations began flying again, the new Chapter 7 trustee asked the federal Bankruptcy Court yesterday to reject all six of the company's union labor contracts.

The motion by trustee Dane Field was expected but came amid pleas by the Air Line Pilots Association to meet with Saltchuk Resources, the prospective new buyer of Aloha Air Cargo.

ALPA blasted Saltchuk for not meeting with the union over the continued employment of Aloha's pilots -- some of whom began flying cargo Thursday night to give relief to customers who have been scrambling for alternatives to ship perishable goods and other items.

Cargo flights resumed normal operations yesterday, with pilots showing up and all of the flights going out as scheduled. More than half of the 13 scheduled flights had departed by early last night.

But Saltchuk was not entirely quiet yesterday. Mike Coffman, president of Saltchuk's newly formed Hawaiian subsidiary, Aeko Kula, and other Saltchuk representatives met for several hours with representatives of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

"We feel very positive about the direction that the discussions are headed," said Randy Kauhane, assistant chairman and lead negotiator of IAM District 141. Kauhane represents Aloha's cargo agents and supply agents. "We have found (Saltchuk) to be willing to negotiate in a straightforward manner."

The cargo agents check in the cargo, process it and get it loaded onto the aircraft and offloaded. Supply agents acquire equipment necessary for aircraft repairs. There are between 200 and 300 employees covered under that IAM contract, Kauhane said.

"It is our opinion that Saltchuk is not anti-union, based on their track record," he said. "These folks work productively with organized labor in over two-thirds of their business around the country."

Talks between the parties are scheduled throughout the weekend.

Capt. David Bird, chairman of Aloha's ALPA unit, said union pilots have been standing by for weeks with offers to meet with Aloha and Saltchuk to help solve problems and continue operations.

"That offer still stands," Bird said. "But instead of meeting with us, they asked the judge to simply give them and the lenders expansive and extraordinary relief, wipe out the companies' outstanding obligations and reject all union contracts."

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Ashley Robello, a customer service agent for Aloha Air cargo, gave a smile yesterday as she handled phone calls.

Aloha co-counsel David Farmer said "the odds are 99 percent" that ALPA and Saltchuk will work something out to retain some of Aloha's pilots.

"The pilots are here, they need work and Saltchuk needs pilots," he said.

John Riddel, secretary-treasurer of Aloha's ALPA unit, said "pilots' goals ... are the successful operation of air services and a relationship with employees that is constructive and rewarding."

Bird said that ALPA is ready to meet with Saltchuk immediately "to make sure that the operations continue without interruption."

"Aloha and Saltchuk should not ignore long-service employees who have already provided hundreds of millions of dollars of relief to Aloha Airlines over the last five years," he said.

In Field's motion to reject the union contracts, he said that the collective-bargaining agreements have no value to Aloha's estate, and "it is highly unlikely that any permanent Chapter 7 trustee would assume any such collective-bargaining agreements."

Field said that the rejection of the agreements is inevitable because Aloha is liquidating and all business operations will cease. Field asked that the court reject the agreements now instead of unnecessarily delaying "the inevitable outcome" for the required 60-day period.

A hearing is set for 2 p.m. May 12 for that motion as well as another motion by the trustee requesting that the court approve the sale of the cargo unit to Saltchuk.

Aloha's lender, GMAC Commercial Finance LLC, has said it would finance the ongoing operations of the cargo unit until the scheduled closing date of May 14.