AKCattleCarrier

sorry your work group was treated like that by company leaders. Not surprising that a management team that has run the airline into the ground (-$500m in 2 years) also made those kind of decisions against their own employees well being. A management team that has also decided to cash out and float away on golden parachutes leaving local employees holding the bag likely to be unemployed soon destroying a historical brand and striping Hawaiian culture of a significant point of pride.

If you had a management team that wasn’t full of 0’s I would suspect, in aggregate, HA would be better off in CH11 than getting absorbed into AAG. But all evidence suggests they would probably F that up as well.

they assaulted your fundamental rights, ruined your company, and floated away with millions in their pockets. When the merger gets ugly at AAG don’t forget who put you in that position in the first place. I have to remind the former Va folks of that all the time. Branson sold them out. Not AAG.

rickair7777

Could be wrong but IIRC Branson wasn't calling the shots on it by that point, and he wasn't happy about the sale to AAG.

blackbox348

I think the general sentiment on the line is this. HA has survived two CH. 11s and in the case of the last one, come out a powerhouse under the Dunkerly era. While many of us would love for Hawaiian to survive as a stand alone company, and would be ready to weather a Ch. 11, we have zero faith that our current management and BOD could pull it off. So although we don’t want to sell, we also don’t want to lose our jobs and be dumped into the current pilot market.

Management over the last five years has many a time walked past a dollar, hoping a $1.25 was around the corner, only to find nothing. They whipsawed line service and ended up with more in aircraft damage and aircraft OTS due to dumb mistakes than cost savings, doubled down on Japan post-Covid despite what every analyst said, and left lucrative government charters and N. America flying on the table so we could fly 4x daily to Tokyo when the value of the yen is at an all time low.

PineappleXpres

Truth

filler….

GreenPatures

Except that no one has ever accused the USG of being savvy at business.

GreenPatures

All good and interesting academic discussions, opionions and speculations of what might or might not have become of HA. I find myself forgetting about speculation or what I wanted to happen since the merger is happening and none of what might have happened or what I think would have happened or what any of us of think might have occured, which is all a guess, has any bearing on the merger, JCBA, etc. Years from now some will still speculate on what could have happened to HA if it hadn't been bought, and it is all a guess as it is a different course that really doesn't matter anymore.

GreenPatures

I was very surprised the HI state government did not push to DOJ for some protections for things like Interisland service, and keeping the union base / employment in the state, but based on HI state government bumbling I am simultaneously not surprised, I think they thought DOJ would take care of it for them, and it didn't happen. So now the AG is scrambling and going to DOT to get those protections and figure out how to hold ALK accountable to what BM statements were made. To date all of those are just verbal with nothing holding ALK to any of what was said, which is now probably keeping BM busy as it seems to have fallen on DOT to sort out the stipulations. Just my opinion, some from the SA article and what I have seen from the HI state government. I think HI state is in a semi-panic mode. They, HI, have not been favorable to HA, despite HA being the largest private employer in the state. They just want cheap fares for their residents and continued interisland service (at those below profit fares), so they welcome competitors who come in and try to put HA out of business bc the fares are cheap, without any regard to the long term effects to HAs biggest employer. I think it may have finally dawned on them, or maybe I am giving them too much credit and they are still clueless and will just take BM at his verbal word and not have anything on paper to hold him accountable to do what he says.

rickair7777

HI government is only going to get verbal assurances (at best), they have no control over air carriers.

They should as you say have been lobbying in DC, I'd actually be surprised if they weren't, maybe it was behind closed doors.

Post-deregulation DOT is limited in it's authority...

DOJ has federal law to enforce anti-trust. They punted, for whatever reason (election is my suspicion).

DOT no longer has the authority to direct airline route structures to ensure service to everybody. They can incentivize (EAS), or they might be able to hold a common certificate process hostage in exchange for concessions but my guess is that's not something they can drag out indefinitely, or win in court if AS decides to force the issue. De-regulation... they forced competition on the airlines, now they can't really complain when free markets market.

nick89

DOT can challenge or otherwise withhold approval based on public interest.

https://www.transportation.gov/testi...-restructuring




I originally included antitrust, although I don't think thats entirely correct. Reading near the bottom though it seems they can somehow block/reject/disapprove based on anticompetitve practises against public interest. Pilots are such great lawyers and interpreters of the law :P

PineappleXpres

Safe and affordable does not demand below profit. If a local airline with hometown sinergy and a mainland carrier with single fleet sinergy and economy of scale can't produce the prices the local population demand. The local gov, let alone the DOT, ain't got nothin' to say.