LIHUE — United Airlines officials say they are currently re-evaluating their ground operations at three airports throughout the state, including Lihue Airport, to determine whether staffing changes may need to be made. “We haven’t made any decisions, but we must
LIHUE — United Airlines officials say they are currently re-evaluating their ground operations at three airports throughout the state, including Lihue Airport, to determine whether staffing changes may need to be made.
“We haven’t made any decisions, but we must continually look for new opportunities to run a more efficient and financially sustainable business,” United Airlines spokeswoman Christen David wrote in an email on Friday.
Employees at Kona, Kahului and Lihue airports, David wrote, were notified that the Chicago-based carrier is “looking at competitive market rates to see whether we can continue to keep above-the-wing and below-the-wing work within United.”
She cited United’s uniform pay scale as one of the reasons for the labor assessment.
“United currently pays the same labor rates in all markets, unlike our major competitors, whose rates at smaller stations are in line with local market rates,” David wrote. “This difference in pay puts us at a competitive disadvantage and we must look for ways to ensure our cost structure is more in line with other airlines serving the markets.”
Although David said no decisions have been made about changing the air carrier’s staffing approach, she explained that any future decisions made could affect a total of 223 employees at the three airports.
Under the terms of the airline’s collective bargaining agreement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, David said United executives are asking the union officials to enter into negotiations with the company. Calls placed to the Upper Marlboro, Md.-based union were not returned Friday.
“The outcome depends on those discussions,” David said.
