Pacific Wings loses Pacific Wings, the small Kahului-based airline servicing some of the state's remote airports, has lost its battle with the state Department of Transportation to secure additional hangar space at the Kahului airport.
fight to get hangar
State turns down request for
space at Kahului airportBy Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.comThe only Maui-based airline, Pacific Wings had been running about 50 daily departures on its small planes statewide.
For four years Pacific Wings had been operating out of what it thought were temporary quarters; two aging hangars for its six planes on one side of the airport runway and a 600-square-foot trailer to run operations and reservations on the other side of the runway.
Pacific Wings President Greg Kahlstorf said he received word last week from state DOT officials that the airline's request, which had the support of the Federal Aviation Administration, had been turned down.
"It seems no economic devastation or national tragedy is too great to overcome airport politics. Nothing can stop it, not even the federal government," he said.
DOT officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The department's original denial of the airline's request said that rules would not permit changing a waiting list for additional hangar space at Kahului airport, which the department reiterated last week. Pacific Wings was No. 11 on that list.
Those ahead on the list include private aircraft owners and commercial companies without scheduled air services.
At one time, Pacific Wings had hoped to lease land at the airport from the state to build its own facilities. But while land was available, building at the airport has been on hold for several years while a lawsuit over the airport's runway extension works its way through the courts.
With new construction at a standstill, in 1999 Pacific Wings asked the DOT for more hangar space from the state's existing inventory and for permission to add another trailer to house its operations.
The hangar adjacent to Pacific Wings' maintenance facility has been vacant for more than eight months while DOT officials pondered the airline's request.
Pacific Wings Kahlstorf questioned why the DOT would not settle the matter quickly.
"We don't understand why the (DOT) director would be reluctant to exercise administrative discretion with the hangar wait list," Kahlstorf said.
After correspondence and meetings with DOT officials produced no results, Kahlstorf appealed to the FAA and Hawaii's elected officials for help.
FAA Pacific Area representative Tweet Coleman suggested that if the DOT could not assign hangar space to Pacific Wings, a possible compromise would be to assign space to the airline in its capacity as the Essential Air Service carrier for the federal government. As well as service to the state's other small airports, Pacific Wings holds the federal contract to serve airports at Kamuela, Kalaupapa and Hana.
Then over the summer, Pacific Wings received a letter from the DOT's Airports Division notifying it that it had been removed from the hangar waiting list.
In spite of all the correspondence and meetings over hangar and space issues, the company had failed to write a formal letter, required every year by the department, to maintain its position on the list.
In the meantime, FAA representative Coleman came up with another suggestion to solve the problem, which the DOT also turned down. Coleman suggested at least temporary use of the adjacent empty hangar be given to Pacific Wings.
Given the Sept. 11 attacks and likely cutbacks in services by the state's larger carriers, especially to small airports, Coleman asked if the hangar could be assigned to Pacific Wings on an emergency basis.
During a final conference call on the issue last week with state DOT officials, Kahlstorf was given a final no in its request for additional hangar space, saying the airline must wait until it comes to the top of the list.
Airports Division chief Jerry Matsuda suggested Pacific Wings might want to consider relocating its operations to Honolulu airport rather than continuing to base itself in Maui, Kahlstorf said.
"They recommended we look for other alternatives, including relocating to Honolulu," he said.
Kahlstorf has since requested copies of correspondence from the DOT to the Attorney General's Office.
He would like to know the basis for the DOT's decision, what questions the department asked of the attorney general and how the decision to turn down the airline's request was reached.
According to Sonia Faust, land/transportation supervisor in the office's legal services division, such advice is privileged, unlike a formal legal opinion.
Unless the DOT chooses to release the information, Faust said she is unable to comment on the decision.
Kahlstorf may have difficulty ever finding out how the decision to turn down his request was reached.
But some members of more remote communities support Pacific Wings and expressed concern about the future of air transportation to their communities.
In a letter to DOT Director Brian Minaai, members of the Hana Business Council raised the issue.
"Given the current tragic events our country has faced and the severe economic impact on our Hawaiian economy, it is of utmost importance that additional burdens not be placed on our outlying communities," the letter said. "We ask that they (Pacific Wings) be given top priority above any independent companies or private individuals that many have priority on the waiting list for this hangar."