Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants ratify narrow-body aircraft agreement

Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants have ratified a tentative agreement reached earlier this month between the company and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) on new contract terms covering the operation of long-range, single-aisle aircraft the company plans to acquire to complement its current fleet of wide-body aircraft serving Hawai’i from the U.S. West Coast. On January 7, Hawaiian announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with airframe manufacturer Airbus to acquire 16 new A321neo aircraft between 2017 and 2020, with rights to purchase an additional nine aircraft. The company also announced that the acquisitions are contingent upon the signing of new agreements with its pilots’ and flight attendants’ unions covering operation of the new aircraft type. Hawaiian’s pilots ratified a similar agreement between the company and the Air Line Pilots Association on January 28. The fleet expansion is expected to generate roughly 1,000 new jobs at Hawaiian.