Talk Story - The Hawaiian Airlines Pilot Podcast

Life on the road is part of a pilot's career. To ensure those nights away from home are spent in safe, hospitable hotel rooms, the Hawaiian pilots' contract sets appropriate standards of quality. To ensure that contract language is enforced, HAL pilots rely on their Hotel Committee. In this episode, Hotel Committee Chair Ryan Williams breaks down the important work his committee does, and how pilo...

With Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines attaining Single Operating Certificate (SOC) status at the end of October, the two airlines are now a single carrier from the FAA’s perspective. To discuss how this marks an important transition for our pilot groups, Alaska MEC Chair Will McQuillen and Hawaiian MEC Chair Larry Payne sit down to offer their perspective on the state of the merger and what comes next...

With Hawaiian pilots facing an array of changes related to the Alaska merger, in this episode we’re putting a spotlight on one way the union can help pilots navigate times of stress: our Pilot Assistance Committees. These five committees - Aeromedical, CIRP, HIMS, Pilot Peer Support, and Professional Standards - are staffed by pilot volunteers providing confidential support and guidance to other p...

In this episode, our Alaska and Hawaiian MEC Chairs, Will McQuillen and Larry Payne, sat down to provide their thoughts on the recent announcements about the Seattle 787 base and the future aircraft orders. The discussion also touched on the status of JCBA negotiations and what pilots can expect moving forward.

In this episode, our Alaska and Hawaiian MEC Chairs, Will McQuillen and Larry Payne, as well as our Joint Negotiating Committee Co-Chairs, David Wilhelm and Doug Grant, all sat down to provide an update on the status of our Alaska-Hawaiian merger and the state of our Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) negotiations. Through the episode, we covered several topics, including the union’s act...

In this episode of Talk Story, we’re putting the spotlight on our HAL MEC Representatives. We have three new HNL LEC 065 Representatives who took office at the beginning of March – Block 1 Rep. Dan Moore, Block 3 Rep. Justen Taafaki, and Block 4 Rep. Makoa Gaughen-Haili. In the first segment, we discuss their experiences as incoming Reps, what inspired them to serve, their interactions with the Al...

In our latest episode of Talk Story, HAL MEC Chair Larry Payne and HAL MEC Block 3 Representative Sean Kimura explain what was achieved through the mid-January meetings between the Alaska and Hawaiian MECs, where Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) goals were established. They discuss how the bargaining priorities were determined, the pilot input and feedback that went into those prioriti...

We’re approaching one year since the initial Alaska-Hawaiian merger announcement. In this episode, Hawaiian MEC Chair Larry Payne and Merger Committee Chair Eric Thorstad give an overview of the potential changes that are coming as a result of the merger, what effects they might have, and the ways our pilots can make an impact on the process. Among the topics covered: Current JCBA Follow-Up Survey...

With the merger transaction between Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines now final, the separate pilot groups from each carrier will continue the process of combining into one. A significant part of that includes negotiating a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) under which the new combined pilot group will work. The Master Executive Councils (MECs) of each pilot group, as part of the Air Line Pi...

In this episode, Co-hosts Alaska Communications Chair David Campbell and Hawaiian Communications Chair Mike Davis interview Alaska MEC Chair Will McQuillen and Hawaiian MEC Chair Larry Payne. Captains McQuillen and Payne discuss the vision they share for the collective future of a combined pilot group and the critical importance of pilot unity, engagement, and feedback in upcoming contract negotia...

In this episode of Talk Story, HAL MEC Chair Larry Payne and HAL Negotiating Chair Doug Grant sit down with Communications Chair Mike Davis to discuss a number of recent developments, including a 10-day extension of the Department of Justice antitrust review, the ratification of our new Transition and Process Agreement, and the upcoming changes to PWA Section 21 (Bidding) and 22 (Scheduling).   Al...

In this episode, we'll be covering two separate developments coming in the next two weeks: the beginning of negotiations for a Transition and Process Agreement (TPA) and Hawaiian MEC Officer elections, both happening in early May. Discussing both topics are HAL MEC Chair Larry Payne and Joint Negotiating Committee member Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz, along with HAL Communications Chair Mike Davis.  Thr...

This episode, Hawaiian Airlines MEC Chair Larry Payne, ALPA National SPSC Chair Ronan O’Donoghue, and HAL Strategic Planning Committee Chair Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz sit down with HAL Communications Chair Mike Davis for a roundtable discussion of strategic planning. The group gives their thoughts on the purpose of strategic planning and a synopsis of the various methods involved. They also give an...

On December 3, Hawaiian Airlines announced a merger agreement with Alaska Airlines. To talk about what the merger process will look like going forward for our pilot group, MEC Chair Larry Payne, Joint Negotiating Committee appointee Rob Willoughby, and Merger Committee Chair Eric Thorstad joined Communications Chair Mike Davis for an in-depth discussion of the merger. Among the topics discussed: a...

Listen as HAL MEC Strategic Planning Chair Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz discusses our contractual vacancy language with HAL Vacancy Committee Chair Chad Holcomb. The two cover a broad range of topics within vacancies, including bidding timelines, category freezes, activation and effective dates, and much more. To summarize some of the concepts discussed in the podcast, we’ve put together the following...

This month, we're taking the scenic route on our HAL Contract Explained series, as Block 3 Rep. Sean Kimura is joined by Negotiating Committee Member Rob Willoughby and Secretary Treasurer Sean Lee to dive into the details of PWA Section 6: Vacation! Listen as Rob explains the finer points of our vacation contract language: how we accrue and use vacation, how the number of slots is determined, how...

Host Sean Lee is joined by Negotiating Committee member Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz to discuss all the protections our PWA provides in the case of a merger or acquisition. To see the topics summarized, please check out our infographic on the subject: Mergers and Fragmentation: https://tinyurl.com/ydd9tv37

Listen to the second episode of our HAL Contract Explained series, covering the topic of scope! Scope is the foundation of an airline union contract, ensuring our job security. In this episode, Secretary-Treasurer Sean Lee sits down with Scope Chair Doug Brayham and Negotiating Committee Member Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz to discuss protections surrounding feeder carriers, code shares, and joint ventu...

This week, we Talk Story with HAL Managing Director of Safety and Security Bennet Walsh. HAL MEC Central Air Safety Chair Captain Scott Clark and HAL MEC Member F/O Sean Lee discuss the new FOQA crosstalk LOA.   See more of HAL Contract Explained here: https://www.alpa.org/hal/contract/contract-explained

This episode kicks off our brand new "HAL Contract Explained" series, where we break down one contract subject each month with our contract experts. The first episode features Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz from the Negotiating Committee, as we discuss the subject of Deadheads.    We also recommend looking at these handy infographics, which help break down the subjects covered in the episode:   HCE Deadh...

This month, we meet with Scheduling Committee Member Ted Hebert in his new role reviewing monthly pilot parings on behalf of the Pilots of Hawaiian Airlines.   Ted shares his best tips and tricks when it comes to monthly bidding, as well as how to survive an IROP.   Later in the show, we’re joined by the HAL MEC Fatigue committee, fresh off of a all-pilot call on the same subject.

Negotiating Committee member Ethan Pearson-Pomerantz sits down with MEC Block 4 Rep. Sean Lee to discuss the new bidding and scheduling language negotiated as part of our new Tentative Agreement. Among the changes discussed: the 24-hour scheduling system, reserve changes (including long call reserve and biddable RAPs) scheduling flexibility, bidding within the Average Line Value system, new order...

With a proposed new contract being offered to the Pilots of Hawaiian Airlines to inspect and ratify, HAL MEC Negotiations Chair Doug Grant and MEC Chairman Larry Payne discuss the next steps on the road to ratification.   Talk Story is produced by the HAL MEC in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Thinking of bidding cargo? Join HAL MEC Cargo Committee Chairman George Chetcuti in a discussion on exactly what it takes to fly freight. George is a former DHL cargo pilot with 33 years of ALPA service.   We’ll also hear from HAL MEC Chairman Captain Larry Payne and ALPA Contract Administrator Brett Eckelberg recap the year 2022 for Hawaiian Airlines.

Today on Talk Story we talk with FAA PSAP Representative Frank Waley and our Central Air Safety Committee Chairman Scott Clark.   Also in the show: an update from HAL MEC Chairman Larry Payne!