Aloha air cargo is flying again

all

Posted Friday, 2 May 2008, 08:52 HST @702

From the Honolulu Advertiser: Aloha’s air cargo unit is flying a full schedule today. All six of the company’s Boeing 737-200 cargo jets will fly today, after GMAC and Saltchuk Resources came to terms. It’s hard to believe that these 6 planes handled 85% of Hawaii’s air cargo, but it’s true.

Saltchuk, the owners of interisland barge company Young Brothers, will pay US$10.2 million, which is $3M less than the company’s offer of late last week.

Dane Field finally accepted his appointment as bankruptcy trustee, which helped break the impasse he helped create. He had refused to confirm his appointment on Monday, which led to the air cargo unit’s closure and a subsequent layoff.

Aloha cargo employees and pilots have reported back for work, but Saltchuk can hire or fire whoever the company pleases after the deal is finalized on 14 May 2008. Salaries and wages may be changes, which is a major blow for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The union wanted Aloha to use more expensive senior passenger-rated pilots.

Hawaii’s senior senator, Daniel Inouye (D), was credited with bringing the parties back to the negotiating table:

Douglas Lipke, GMAC’s attorney, said Inouye called GMAC’s president on Monday to urge the lender to reconsider its decision to cut off Aloha.

Inouye also called Saltchuk executives to stress the importance of a service that transported 85 percent of all goods flown between O’ahu and the Neighbor Islands, Saltchuk president Tim Engle said.

“He (Inouye) was the architect of bringing this back together,” Banmiller said.

According to this article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1300 jobs were saved. Two planes flew last night from Honolulu to Kona and Kauai, according to another Star-Bulletin article.

Contract services group sold

In a related story, Aloha’s contract services group was sold yesterday to Pacific Air Cargo of Los Angeles. US Bankruptcy Court Judge Lloyd King order the sale to close immediately, instead of Monay, 5 May 2008. PAC paid US$2.05 million for the 1100 employee unit. According to the Advertiser, “[t]he contract services division handles ticketing, baggage services, ramp duties and other ground services for United Airlines, Japan Air Lines and other carriers that serve Hawaii.”

I hope we have no more surprises coming at the airport. It’s been a weird week for tourists, hotels, groceries, restaurants and other businesses who were affected by Monday’s air cargo shutdown.