Hawaiian Airlines has initiated a statewide hiring campaign to meet upcoming scheduling demands. Yet there are already 270 employees who are qualified, experienced, and committed to continue working at Hawaiian Airlines, but who have been terminated or placed on a leave of absence.

We were forced out of the company after the institution of an unreasonably strict vaccine mandate, which was implemented with little regard for those of us unable to take the vaccine for religious or health reasons.

Hawaiian Airlines is now the only major U.S. carrier that continues to require all employees to be vaccinated.

As tourism numbers surge, and Hawaiian Airlines looks to “rebuild its network back to 2019 levels,” we should not be forgotten. We could have continued working safely alongside our co-workers if the company had been willing to work with us to provide reasonable accommodations.

Our group of employees worked safely and tirelessly throughout the pandemic, continuing to provide our trademark customer service full of aloha. When Hawaiian Airlines decided to implement a vaccine mandate, the company initially allowed us to continue working if we took weekly COVID tests. We diligently submitted negative test results and continued working.

We continued to fulfill all company requirements by testing and wearing masks as directed by company safety protocols.

Then Hawaiian Airlines decided, after many months and hundreds of flights, that regular testing was insufficient. As of Jan. 4, I and my fellow employees suddenly became a health threat. Even though many of us were willing to pay out of pocket to continue testing and flying, we were denied.

While Hawaiian Airlines provided employees the opportunity to apply for religious and medical accommodations, only six out of 500 religious accommodations were granted, and only four out of 71 medical requests. These numbers speak for themselves. An acceptance rate of 1% shows the company’s disregard for our beliefs and medical needs. In addition, having fellow employees sit in judgement of another’s beliefs is unfair for everyone.

Adding insult to injury, after forcing us out, Hawaiian Airlines is now contesting unemployment claims and even freezing 401(k) accounts.

To be sure, Hawaiian Airlines must make the safety of both its employees and customers a top priority. However, decisions were made here seemingly without reason nor empathy for many of us who had served this company for years and considered it a second ohana.

Ohana means acting responsibly with integrity to support everyone. Hawaiian Airlines did not act responsibly with integrity to support us.

Another stated value of Hawaiian Airlines is to malama, which means “to care for and protect.” Rather than care for and protect us, we were dismissed. Where is the malama for us?

I loved being a part of the Hawaiian Airlines ohana. After five years of applying, I was finally accepted into the training program, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. At graduation, I was blessed to receive the Pualani Award (voted on by my class) for exemplifying hospitality.

As a Native Hawaiian, I was honored to embody the aloha spirit to both visitors and kamaaina. A comment from one of my Orchid Letters — a guest testimonial written to show appreciation for a job well done — stated:

“Our flight attendant today, Leilani, was excellent. We’ve been flying with Hawaiian Airlines for 30 years. She is the best, most attentive, friendly and efficient [attendant] that we have ever experienced. You’re very lucky to have her on your crew.”

Working at Hawaiian Airlines allowed me to fly in the mornings, dance hula in Waikiki in the evenings, and teach creative sign dance classes at church. I deeply appreciated the flexibility I had to balance my career, my culture and my faith in what was previously a wonderful work environment.

We now ask Hawaiian Airlines to remedy this situation and live out its values of ohana and malama by returning us to our former positions.

Leilani Soon is one of 270 Hawaiian Airlines employees who were denied vaccine exemptions and forced to take unpaid leave or termination.