Air travelers Airports across the state did not open at 6 a.m. today as had been hoped by state officials, who said they expect them to reopen sometime today.
remain stranded
Airports across the state did not
open early this morning
as state officials hopedStar-Bulletin staff
Honolulu Airport "has not been cleared as of yet, nor has any of the carriers," said Marilyn Kali, the state Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
The order grounding all airplanes nationwide was temporarily extended this morning by the Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta with two exceptions, said Tweet Coleman, FAA spokeswoman in Honolulu.
She said airlines that diverted yesterday -- about 10 or 12 -- may gather their original passengers and continue to their destinations. Empty airplanes may also be repositioned, she said, explaining that airplanes can come in empty to pick up passengers when the ground order is lifted.
Although diverted airplanes can fly before the ground order is removed, they cannot do it without being certified by the FAA, Coleman said. The airport and airline must be checked out to ensure security procedures are complete, she said.
Airplanes being repositioned also must comply with the additional procedures and be certified, as well as the airports, before they even leave from Japan or elsewhere, she said. "It's like a two-way street."At 6 a.m. none of Hawaii's 15 airports had met new Federal Aviation Administration security requirements. The FAA requirements include:
>>An enhanced security force in the ticket and baggage claim lobbies.
>>Cars will not be allowed to park on the curbside. However drop-off and pickups there are OK.
>>Only ticketed passengers with photograph identifications will be allowed past security checkpoints. Knives, scissors or any sharp object will be confiscated. And cars entering the parking areas will be searched.
"We've been working all night to try to comply. We will not notify the FAA that we're ready until we're sure that we have complied with all of the requirements," Kali said.
But before any planes can take off, the airlines need to meet separate FAA requirements and the airport to which the airplane is flying also needs to meet FAA requirements if it is in the United States.
Kali anticipates the first airlines to be approved to fly will be carriers flying inter-island, followed by those heading to overseas airports which are not subject to the FAA's enhanced requirements then finally carriers heading to the mainland.
When flights do resume, Kali recommends people arrive at the airport a minimum of three hours before their departure time for overseas flights and at least one and a half hours for interisland flights because of the enhanced security measures.
Some travelers showed up at isle airports early this morning hoping to catch a flight out.
Edward Byrne caught a bus from his Waikiki hotel not knowing if Honolulu Airport would be open.
"I left the hotel this morning at 5 o'clock. I just took a chance. There was talk about 6 o'clock," said Byrne who is hoping to catch any flight to the West Coast.
Travelers were advised to call their airline before going to the airport.
"I cannot contact the 800 number for United Airlines, so that's why I came here." Misako Nomura said the line was always busy. She is trying to go back to Japan.
A handful of passengers showed up at Lihue Airport this morning in hopes flights would resume at 6 a.m.
Mike Wallace and his wife Terry, of San Diego, said they were scheduled to fly out yesterday and Aloha Airlines rebooked them on an 8:25 a.m. flight today.
Their flight from Oahu to the mainland is not scheduled until tomorrow.
They had already checked out of their hotel and turned in their rental car and weren't sure how they were going to spend the time until flights resume.
"I don't care if they hand search our luggage. Whatever it takes," Wallace said.
At Lihue Airport, Sue Kanoho, head of the Kauai Visitors Bureau said the few people who decided to wait at the airport were being offered free coffee and consideration was being given to asking the Red Cross to provide food if people were stuck at the airport. All of the restaurants are inside the security area, which was gated off.
"Some of these people waiting here are on a very tight budget and can't afford to go anywhere," Kanoho noted. If it appears they will have to wait overnight, she said, the county may be asked to open the Veterans Memorial Convention Center as a temporary shelter.
At Hilo airport, barely a dozen would-be passengers showed up during the first two hours the airport was open. Airline staff, security guards, and passengers waited for word on what would happen next.
"Nothing. Nobody knows anything," said frustrated passenger Carlos Handal.
Part owner of Windward Dodge, Handal has been staying on the Big Island, flying to Honolulu daily.
Not this morning. He called Hawaiian Airlines for information on flights last night and this morning. Both times he got recorded music which he listened to on his speaker phone for half an hour before giving up and taking a chance on coming to the airport in the hope that planes might be flying.
"They don't give you the courtesy to let you know," he said.
Security at the parking lot was tight. A guard was taking the name and phone number of every person who parked in the lot.
On Maui, scores of people waited in the parking lot across the street from the Kahului Airport terminal this morning, as airlines awaited for approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to resume flights.
Maui County Mayor James Apana advised visitors to go to a restaurant to eat breakfast because the airport and airlines are expected to take some time to meet certain security requirements imposed by the FAA.
"The FAA gave us a punch list," Apana said. "We've to fulfill the list."
Visitors said they were shocked by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and fearful about air travel in the East Coast.
Japan visitor Tomoaki Hongo said his family would return to Hawaii for a visit but he would not travel to New York or Washington, D.C. Some visitors said their confidence in the safety of U.S. air space has been shaken.
"I never believed it would happen in the United States," said Paul Otter of Boise, Idaho. "I thought we had better security than this."
Star-Bulletin reporters Nelson Daranciang, Helen Altonn, Anthony Sommer, Rod Thompson, and Gary T. Kubota contributed to this report.
