Union questions Allegiant Air?s work policy for flight attendants in Hawaii

The union that represents Allegiant Air?s flight attendants is asking Hawaii?s governor and congressional delegation to investigate whether the airline is complying with the state?s prepaid health-care law by hiring only part-time employees.

The Transport Workers Union of America Local 577 noted that Las Vegas-based Allegiant (Nasdaq: ALGT) plans to establish a base in Honolulu next month, and that the flight attendants being hired for the Honolulu base will be part-time.

The union recently sent letters to Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, and Reps. Colleen Hanabusa and Mazie Hirono, questioning whether Allegiant?s part-time scheduling of its flight attendants based in Honolulu ? ... is being implemented to avoid providing health-care benefits for flight attendants based in Hawaii.?

Hawaii?s prepaid health-care law requires employers to provide health insurance for employees who work an average of at least 20 hours per week.

?A round-trip flight to or from the Mainland gives you a schedule of nearly 14 hours not including the many unpaid hours a flight attendant accrues due to delays,? Debra Petersen-Barber, an Allegiant flight attendant who is lead negotiator for TWU Local 577, said in a statement. ?Unless the company schedules flight attendants one day a week, there is no way for them to work less than 20 hours.?

Allegiant spokeswoman Jennifer Wheeler noted in an email that the airline, which launched its Hawaii flights to Las Vegas and Fresno, Calif., in late June, was new to the market, ?and given our current level of operations, part-time flight attendants allow us to meet our operational needs while maintaining the low costs that allow us to offer customers low fares.?

?Far from skirting the law as the TWU?s press release suggests, prior to commencing operations in [Honolulu], Allegiant obtained guidance from the state of Hawaii in order to ensure compliance with its legal obligations going forward,? she said.

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