ALPA requests that Hawaiian Airlines pilots are released from mediation with management

The Air Line Pilots Association Int'l (ALPA) announced on Monday that the Hawaiian Airlines (NASDAQ:HA) pilots that it represents believe that their contract negotiations are at an impasse and have asked the US federal government to release them for mediation, a process which could allow a future pilots' strike at the airline.

ALPA sent a letter to the US National Mediation Board (NMB) on behalf on the Hawaiian Airlines pilots, formally requesting that the NMB end its mediation efforts and issue a Proffer of Arbitration to both parties. Should the NMB make a proffer and either ALPA or Hawaiian decline to enter binding arbitration, the two sides would be released from mediation and would enter a 30-day cooling-off period following which the pilots could strike.

In a strike authorisation vote taken earlier this autumn, 98% of participating Hawaiian Airlines pilots voted to allow their leadership to declare the strike if the NMB releases ALPA to self-help. This would be the first strike in the airline's 80-year history.

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