Hawkair having found its white Knight from Alberta hopes to soon leave the clutches of court ordered creditor protection. The airline which struggled through the last couple of years provides the only alternative in air travel in the Northwest to Air Canada’s Jazz.
And while they begin the climb out of creditor protection they find themselves preparing for another bit of business, that of the unionization of their work force. No doubt concerned over the airlines near death experience, the workers at Hawkair are seeking out union certification for a portion of its roughly 100 employees.
The BC Supreme court ruled that their February 2006 attempt to certify would have to wait until the company came out of its restructuring, with that project almost complete it’s time for a whole new set of negotiations. Negotiations which could have an impact on what the airline looks like, as it prepares to resume more financially secure times.
The Daily News had all the details of the slow flight to financial security in their Tuesday edition.
HAWKAIR HOPES IT CAN FLY OUT OF CREDITOR PROTECTION
Company looking forward to moving ahead following support from BarXH
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Pages one and three
With Hawkair’s airplane problems finally resolved, it looks like the company may be close to coming out of court-ordered creditor protection.
Hawkair makes its next appearance in B. C. Court in less than a week on Jan. 15.
The local airline that operates between Northern B. C. and Vancouver announced last week that Alberta airline BarXH is proceeding with an investment into Hawkair and will be purchasing Hawkair’s aircraft.
Hawkair operates two Dash – 8’s, which it leases from Maritime based IMP Group Ltd.
However, a major stumbling block for the company has been its disagreement with IMP and their inability to find replacement aircraft elsewhere,
“The deal is they (Bar XH) are buying the aircraft and then Hawkair will operate the aircraft,” said Rod Hayward, CEO of Hawkair.
“The actual deal for the shares in Hawkair has actually yet to be figured out. But it strengthening up Hawkair and allowing us to move forward.”
BarXH, he said, has been able to enter into an agreement with IMP for those airplanes, valued at more than $7 million.
In a previous interview, he explained that Hawkair was having trouble finding replacement planes because there are limited quantities available and companies selling or leasing out Dash 8’s simply aren’t interested in talking to a company under court protection, he said.
Since BarXH has bought the aircraft, it has temporarily removed one from the Fort St. John to Vancouver route in order to fly service crews in and out of the Alberta oil fields during the busy winter season.
Hayward said this has resulted in some temporary layoffs on that route. However, he added that BarXH is looking for other planes in order to resume service.
Once the company comes out of court-ordered creditor protection, it has another issue to deal with – its employees want to unionize.
On Feb. 24, 2006, Hawkair received notice from the National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada that certain employees of Hawkair intended to apply for union certification.
However, the B. C. Supreme Court ruled that the employees would have to wait until the company was finished with restructuring.
“In a small company such as this, I am satisfied that there are insufficient resources to carry through with the submissions and negotiations which will be required if a collective agreement is to be reached… I am satisfied the company will be better able to handle such an application once the reorganization has taken place as the company will then know with certainty the economic status of the company,” said Hon. Justice Grant Burnyeat.
Hawkair employs about 100 people and serves Northern B. C. markets, flying from Terrace, Prince Rupert, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek to Vancouver
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