Release #: HAL 19.01
March 06, 2019

Hawaiian Airlines Pilots Elect New Union Officers

HONOLULU, Hawaii—Hawaiian Airlines pilots of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have elected new officers to their Master Executive Council (MEC) to serve a two-year term that began March 1, 2019.

The new MEC consists of Capt. Lawrence Payne, Jr., chairman and Seniority Block 1 representative; Capt. Rod Buskas, vice chairman and Seniority Block 2 representative; Capt. Mathias Lundblad, secretary-treasurer and Seniority Block 3 representative; and Capt. Adam Feldman, Seniority Block 4 representative.

Lawrence Payne, Jr.
Capt. Payne is celebrating his 20th anniversary with Hawaiian this year. He flies the Airbus 330 and has previously flown the Boeing 717, the Boeing 767, and the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 for the airline. He is a former HAL MEC vice chairman and has also served on the Scheduling and Merger committees. Capt. Payne lives in Kailua, Hawaii, and Renton, Wash. 

Rod Buskas
Capt. Buskas is an Airbus 330 captain who has been with Hawaiian since 2001. His previous union work includes service as DC-10 representative, as well as bargaining the HAL pilot group’s current contract as a member of the HAL MEC Negotiating Committee. A resident of Las Vegas, Nev., and Kailua, Hawaii, Buskas was a professional hockey defenseman for 14 years before beginning his airline career, playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, and Chicago Blackhawks.

Mathias Lundblad
Capt. Lundblad is a resident of Laupahoehoe on the “Big Island” of Hawaii. He flies the Airbus 321 and previously flew the Airbus 330, Boeing 717, and Boeing 767. A former pilot of Horizon Air and Ethiopian Airlines, Capt. Lundblad has been with HAL since 2012 and served the HAL MEC as chairman of the Communications Committee and a member of the Grievance Committee.

Adam Feldman
Captain Feldman is a Boeing 717 pilot who flies interisland routes for Hawaiian. He has been with the airline since 2013 and was previously a member of the HAL Training Committee. His former union service also includes work on various committees at ExpressJet Airlines. A native of New York City, Capt. Feldman now lives in Kailua, Hawaii.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing more than 61,000 pilots at 33 airlines in the United States and Canada, including 775 pilots at Hawaiian Airlines. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org or follow us on Twitter @WeAreALPA.

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CONTACT: ALPA Media, 703-481-4440 or Media@alpa.org