Release #04.HAL4
March 29, 2004

Hawaiian Airline Pilots Union Supports Committee/Trustee Process as Best, Fairest Way to Settle Bankruptcy Proceedings

HONOLULU – The Hawaiian Airlines unit of the Air Line Pilots Association today filed a brief in federal bankruptcy court supporting the sales process proposed by the Trustee and the Committee of Unsecured Creditors and opposing the more open-ended competing plan process proposed by Boeing. The matter will be heard by the court on Thursday, April 1st.

"We support this approach as being the best alternative available for bringing the bankruptcy proceedings to a close," said Captain Jim Giddings, Chairman of ALPA’s HAL unit. "The process should be fair and transparent, and the federal bankruptcy judge is the most objective person – and therefore the best person – to ultimately decide how Hawaiian Airlines should emerge from bankruptcy," Giddings said.

"It is important that we take whatever time is needed to do this right," said Giddings. "Since the airline is stable and profitable, our goal should be to get the best – not the fastest -- plan possible.

"In short our message is: Don't rush the process. As pilots, we are taught not to hurry through things, but to carefully and systematically work through our checklists to make sure all systems are go before we take off. That same approach applies here. We’re glad to see that the Committee and the Trustee have agreed to extend the timeline in their proposed process," he added.

Headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaiian Airlines is the nation’s 12th-largest carrier, with 135 daily flights flown by 300 pilots who operate a fleet of B-717 and B-767 aircraft.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilots’ union, representing 64,000 pilots at 43 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit the ALPA Web site at http://www.alpa.org.

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ALPA CONTACT: Capt. Jim Giddings, (808) 836-2572

Tammy Sumida, Joan Bennet and Associates, Inc. (808) 531 –6087, ext.