Airline lands A small Maui-based commuter airline serving some of the state's remote locations may have its wings clipped a second time by government.
in a location
Catch-22
Pacific Wings can't find
temporary space or
long-term buildingBy Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.comKahului-based Pacific Wings flies to such locations as Hana, Maui; Kalaupapa, Molokai; and the Big Island's Kamuela under subsidies from the federal Essential Airline Service. It also flies to other smaller airports in the state from its base in Kahului and offers the only scheduled air service between some of the remote areas and Honululu.
Last month, Pacific Wings EAS funding fell into some jeopardy when Congress considered discontinuing the entire program. More immediately worrisome was a shortfall in the U.S. Department of Transportation's budget and a change in rules that could eliminate some existing EAS airports, such as Kamuela.
Now the airline, which has about 50 daily departures of its small planes statewide, has run afoul of the Airports Division of the state Department of Transportation.
For four years since it began operations at Kahului airport, Pacific Wings has occupied what it thought would be temporary quarters -- two hangars for its six planes on one side of the airport runway and a 12-foot by 50-foot trailer to run its operations and reservations on the other side of the runway.
Office and reservation activities are housed in cramped conditions in the trailer while aircraft maintenance is performed in two aging hangars with limited electrical facilities.
Pacific Wings began conversations and correspondence with the Airports Division about the lack of space in 1998. Until recently, few of the airline's problems looked close to being to be solved. In fact, things grew progressively worse, said company President Greg Kahlstorf.
In June, Pacific Wings was cited for safety violations -- for adding powerstrips to increase the number of electrical outlets it required to operate maintenance equipment and provide adequate lighting in its hangars. It was also cited for storing more than the allowed volume of waste oil on site.
The company plans to fight both citations in court, Kahlstorf said. If the airline had adequate space and lighting to conduct maintenance activities, electrical violations would not have arisen, he said.
Pacific Wings pays a private firm to dispose of its waste oil, he said, but before that company picks up the oil, it is stored by individual tenants. According to the DOT, Pacific Wings is permitted to have two 55-gallon drums of waste oil on site, but was filling up a third.
Kahlstorf believes the state is by law required to provide proper waste receptacles for excess oil but does not do so.
Space crunch
Pacific Wings wants to lease a portion of land from the DOT at the airport, construct its own maintenance facilities and centralize its operations, Kahlstorf said.But while the land is there, building at the airport has been on hold for several years.
A lawsuit over a proposed extension of the Kahului runway has effectively tied up all construction at the airport for the past five years, said Roy Sakata, operations officer with the Airports Division. Projects held up include a needed new cargo storage facility and additional fuel storage tanks.
With new construction at a standstill, in 1999 Pacific Wings asked for more hangar space from the state's existing inventory, in particular an empty hangar adjacent to the airline's existing hangars, and for permission to add another trailer to house its overflowing operations. But the state instead suggested the airline focus on a long-term building plan, even though it has put all construction projects at the airport on hold.
In the meantime, Kahlstorf said, the company is outgrowing its quarters and needs an interim solution.
Sakata said his department has been trying to accommodate Pacific Wings' requests and work with the company but the state has been limited in what it could do.
A waiting list and strict state rules about how space is allocated are also parts of the problem, Sakata said.
Pacific Wings is No. 11 on the waiting list for the remaining hangar. Those on the list include mostly private individuals and small airlines without regular schedules, Sakata said.
But Kahlstorf argues that between Pacific Wings' federal contracts and growing service demands, space problems will only grow worse.
As Hawaii's larger inter-island airlines find maintaining service to the remaining smaller airports such as Lanai and Molokai unprofitable, Kahlstorf predicts Pacific Wings will end up serving those areas.
"Operating a large plane at kamaaina rates is not profitable so we would likely have to increase our flights or these areas would not have service," he said.
Kahlstorf wants the division to assign Pacific Wings more space in an empty adjoining hangar until the company is finally given the go-ahead to build its own facilities. He argues that Hawaii law gives the Department of Transportation's director the discretion to assign space when necessary.
Meanwhile, the DOT seems to have softened its position in recent days.
The latest letter from the Airports Division says the company may be able to add another temporary trailer adjacent to its existing one and also acquire a 12 feet by 15 feet area now used for storage.
Acquiring an additional hangar to increase maintenance facilities may be more difficult
Sakata said current rules prohibit the Airports Division from making changes to the hangar waitlist. But he said the DOT has asked the state attorney general for an opinion regarding what kind of latitude the state may have in assigning additional hangar space requested by the airline.