Hawaiian Airlines is cutting 73 people from its non-contract workforce of roughly 1,400 employees following a recent merger with Alaska Air Group Inc.
According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the job cuts come after Alaska Air Group, which is the parent company of Alaska Airlines, finalized the acquisition of Hawaiian Holdings, which is the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, for $1.9 billion.
According to the Honolulu Star-Advisor, Alex Da Silva, a Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson, indicated that the majority of the airline’s 1,4000 non-contract employees “received offers to stay with the combined organization for at least 6 months, and the intent is to retain most people for a year or longer, many with long-term offers.” Da Silva said Hawaiian Airlines is encouraging employees to apply for any open positions as the two airline companies combine.
Da Silva said, “We expect some non-contract interim positions tied to specific integration milestones to conclude once projects are completed in the next 6 to 18 months.”
The Honolulu Star-Advisor reported that additional layoffs and job cuts could take place as the two airlines combine and streamline operations.
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“This is such a small number of layoffs, I expect that there could be more but maybe not significantly more,” Peter Forman, an aviation historian, said. “There’s not huge numbers of overlapping routes, so I think there will be a smaller number of layoffs than in most mergers, but obviously in the front office there are redundancies.”
The layoffs were announced last Thursday by Andy Schneider, executive vice president of Alaska Airlines’ People Team. The company’s first round of layoffs include 57 positions based in Hawaii and 16 other positions in the United States. Da Silva indicated that the cut positions were “primarily for duplicative, non-contract operations support roles at airports.”
According to The Honolulu Star-Advisor, Da Silva explained that the 73 non-contract employees who will be leaving the company will continue to hold their positions until December 17. The employees will receive payments until the end of 2024, will receive retention and severance packages, and will be offered job placement services, according to the outlet.
Da Silva acknowledged, “We know this is a very challenging time for our team members and we are committed to supporting everyone through their career transition.”
