Hawaiian Airlines urged to return outsourced call-center jobs to isles

The state House Labor Committee unanimously approved a draft resolution Tuesday urging Hawaiian Airlines to return 200-plus call center jobs it has outsourced to the Philippines.

The resolution, authored by Rep. Bob McDermott (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point), chastised Hawaiian for depriving local residents of the opportunity to work at the customer service call centers and asked the company to return the jobs it took away in 2007.

“It’s time for Hawaiian Air to do the right and bring those jobs back for local people,” McDermott said. “The fact that this resolution has won bipartisan support should send that message loud and clear to the executive suite at Hawaiian.”

Hawaiian spokesman Blaine Miyasato defended the airline’s decision to previously outsource workers and said that decision helped Hawaiian remain financially viable.

“At the time that Hawaiian Airlines made the difficult decision to relocate the call center off island, we had just emerged from our second bankruptcy,” Miyasato testified. “The interisland market was being served by Aloha Airlines, Go! and Hawaiian Airlines. Jet fuel was creeping up to historic levels peaking at over $150 a barrel. Irresponsible and predatory pricing designed to drive competitors out of the market were routinely deployed by the new entrant to the market contributing to the demise of Aloha Airlines in 2008.”

Miyasato said Hawaiian implemented a plan to improve its cost structure and competitiveness and identify efficiencies across the company.

“Hawaiian’s call center employees are unionized, and relocating the scope of work off island to a third party was a negotiated development,” he said. “As part of that agreement, the affected employees were guaranteed jobs in other parts of the company and fully absorbed into customer service roles in airport, ramp and cargo operations.”

The resolution now goes to the Finance Committee for final approval. A hearing has not yet been scheduled.

“It is ironic that this resolution is presumably intended to add jobs to the local economy,” Miyasato said. “At the time of the deal, there were 250 call center agents and 3,500 Hawaiian Airlines employees in total. Today, Hawaiian employs more than 7,200 people — 90 percent of them based in Hawaii — and, arguably, has been able to double the workforce because of decisions we made to ensure Hawaiian’s long-term success with these kinds of initiatives.”