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Island Air’s pilots ratified a new contract Tuesday as the company wrapped up deals with its third and final union.
Earlier this year, the carrier reached contracts with its two other unions that represent dispatchers, mechanics, flight attendants, customer service and ramp agents, and other employees.
Voting by the 42 eligible pilots began Saturday. Contract terms were unavailable.
“The company has been working with all of its labor groups to work through terms to extend all of the respective agreements,” Island Air CEO David Uchiyama said Tuesday. “The pilots’ is the last agreement that we have been able to extend.”
Island Air, whose majority interest was purchased in February by investors headed by Honolulu venture capitalist Jeffrey Au, has been looking at different aircraft and is considering the ATR 500 and Q400, Uchiyama said. The airline currently uses ATR 72s.
Uchiyama said the company’s workforce has grown to 320 employees, up from 256 at the time of the sale announcement in January.
“The story for Island Air is more about all of our team members coming together and agreeing that we are all going to work together to improve and give our island communities an alternative for interisland travel,” Uchiyama said. “Island Air is really the story of ‘The Little Engine That Could.’”