This is what the numbers tell us: Hawaiian Airlines has just over 7,200 employees, making us one of the largest employers in Hawaii. We generate $10 billion a year in industry activity, or 11 percent of the state's gross domestic product. But statistics don't always tell the whole story.
Consider Martin Fruean. He joined Hawaiian in 2006 as a contract services ramp agent handling flights for other airlines and eventually became part of our mainline team. Five years later, he was promoted to chief ramp agent. As his knowledge of company operations grew, so did his interest in aircraft. He enrolled in Honolulu Community College (HonCC) to prepare for the Airframe & Powerplant Certificate exam, putting him on the track to become an aviation mechanic.
Martin committed to a grueling schedule that included classroom instruction from 7:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., followed by the 3:00 p.m.-to-midnight shift on the ramp. "It was hard to juggle work and school and family at the same time," Martin recalls. He had four children at the time, with a fifth on the way.
Martin stuck with it and in 2016 applied to the Aviation Maintenance Apprenticeship Program (AMAP), which Hawaiian had just launched with HonCC and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union to provide on-the-job experience for students enrolled in Federal Aviation Administration-accredited programs. Martin was accepted into AMAP and two years later became one of three apprentices hired as full-time aircraft mechanics at Hawaiian.
"I did it so my kids could look up to me," he says about his decision to seek advanced learning opportunities. In 2021, Martin was promoted to Aircraft Maintenance Lead Mechanic.
Last year, we welcomed 1,400 new employees to the Hawaiian 'ohana. They included pilots, flight attendants and more than five hundred teammates to fill positions "above" and "below" the wing at airports in the destinations we serve. As Hawaii's largest and longest-serving airline, our business has a ripple effect across many sectors of the local economy, including tourism and agriculture. All told, Hawaiian supports some 54,000 jobs across the state.
Contributing to the health of Hawaii's workforce is just as important to us as supporting the economic vitality of the state. Hawaiian has invested in several workforce development initiatives and partnered with the University of Hawai'i and Arizona State University to create opportunities for Hawaii students to pursue rewarding aviation careers. We recently joined Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Aviation Maintenance Technology SkillBridge program, which has successfully transitioned more than 380 servicemen and women into civilian careers since its inception in 2019.
I am particularly proud of the new partnership we launched last year with HonCC to increase the number of students enrolled in its aeronautics maintenance technology (AERO) program, the only one of its kind in the Pacific. The college was faced with a two-year waiting list of students; the program was unable to grow due to a lack of qualified instructors. With our robust in-house aviation maintenance training program, we saw an opportunity to increase the AERO program's capacity: Two Hawaiian employees stepped in to teach at HonCC's campus to help AERO students complete their two-year associate degree and prepare for FAA certification testing. With the additional teaching resources, HonCC can double enrollment and increase the local pipeline of qualified aviation technicians.
The apprenticeship program that trained Martin Fruean continues to produce top-notch aircraft mechanics-more than thirty of whom have joined Hawaiian. As for Martin, his family has grown to nine and he continues to inspire others with his ambition to learn. "You can find the answer," he offers to anyone seeking career advice. "Don't give up."
I'm glad Martin didn't give up. We're a better airline because of him.
From our ohana to yours,
Peter Ingram, Chief Executive Officer, Hawaiian Airlines
