Originally Posted by
SpaceRanger3000
Fence only 3-5 years? "Mergers such as NWA/REP resulted in 20 year fences as the REP pilots had no career expectations to ever fly a widebody aircraft." I'd expect the same goes for many who chose Hawaiian specifically to fly widebodies for their career and those who were happy to work for an airline that had zero widebody aircraft.
With the 330s being replaced and 787s delivered mostly post merger there is a lot to be lost in terms of widebody positions for Hawaiian pilots. I don't know how that career expectation can be maintained.
I'm totally cool with 20 year WB fences, as long as west coast bases have a 20 year fence too.
Mainland HA people who chose to commute to the islands for life shouldn't be allowed to airdrop in on top of those who chose not to... specifically me. I very seriously considered HA, with the help of friends, but it was the commute that turned me off ultimately, ended up waiting several more years for a palatable west cost job offer.
That's just my opinion. There will be a sticking point when they presumably start basing 787's in SEA and buying more... at what point are those still HA planes vs. when are they actually AS airplanes? Some folks will say any deliveries after the deal closes belong to AS. Personally I'd give HA pilots the initial order and maybe half the options? If the WB's stay in HI, then they can have all of them for the duration of the fences.
And then you have the issue of the 330's being phased out... "when" that happens, do those pilots have an entitlement to 787's based in SEA? I put "when" in quotes because when the merger was announced in Dec I assumed all airbii would be gone, even if it took them a decade. But now with the latest max debacle the SEA headshed might actually be open to the opportunity afforded by the merger to gracefully split fleets, especially on the WB side. Time will tell.
Not trying to start a food fight or actually solve anything, just generating some thought on the issues which will have to be addressed.