Tourism rebound
would restore jobsThe issue: Governor Cayetano has
sent letters to airline executives asking
that furloughed employees
be brought back to work.GOVERNOR Cayetano has asked the airlines to recall employees who were furloughed after the Sept. 11 attack on the East Coast caused many Americans to cancel their travel plans. Airlines are unlikely to bring those workers back until the tourist industry recovers. The state should help bring that about by continuing to assure potential visitors that air travel and Hawaii itself are safe.
Cayetano sent letters 10 days ago asking Aloha and Hawaiian airlines and the national carriers with routes to Hawaii, such as United, Continental and American, to recall furloughed employees. On the same day, Aloha offered to bring back the 250 workers it had laid off on condition that all employees, including management, agree to take two days a month off without pay. The employees' unions have not responded.
Aloha and Hawaiian are expected to receive nearly $40 million of the $15 billion bailout approved by Congress for the airlines. Cayetano's letters reminded the airlines of the bailout, but the measure was aimed at helping the airlines stay aloft in the weeks following the terrorist attack, not at flying fully-staffed, empty planes.
Hawaiian Air should not be expected to recall the 430 employees it laid off, nor can all of Aloha's employees expect to work a full monthly schedule until their work is justified by an increase in business. Promotion by the state and the tourist industry will be needed to achieve that goal.
Cayetano, former Govs. John Waihee and George Ariyoshi and other state and industry leaders visited Japan last week and were joined by famed Hawaii-born sumo wrestlers in encouraging people to travel to Hawaii. For the first five days of October, arrivals from Japan totaled 18,800, down 37 percent from the 29,700 arrivals during the same period last year.
The promotional trip should be regarded as only the first step in explaining to the Japanese that they continue to be welcome in Hawaii. The Japanese were "deeply affected by what happened" on Sept. 11, "feel a strong affinity for Hawaii and want to come," said Keith Vieira, director of Hawaii operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., who was part of the entourage. However, they need to be assured that vacationing in Hawaii is appropriate and that their trips won't be disrupted.
Hikers assume risk
to enjoy natureThe issue: A lawsuit places blame on
the state in the deaths of hikers at Sacred Falls.Whenever people venture into nature, they take risks because danger is inherent in the natural world. If someone dies or is injured as a result, it isn't easy to set aside the emotional reaction to place blame.
So it is in a lawsuit brought against the state by the families of four of the eight people killed in a rock slide at Sacred Falls on Mother's Day, 1999. The suit contends that the state was at fault. Ultimately, however, at least part of the responsibility should be borne by the risk-taker.
In testimony last week, a geologist for the families described the valley through which the victims hiked as the most hazardous he had ever inspected. "Nothing is comparable to it," said Gerald Weber. The degree of hazard, however, has little to do with responsibility.
The families contend that the state was negligent because it was aware of potential danger but failed to warn people adequately of the danger of rock falls. However, signs at the trail head cautioned that rock slides and flash floods can take place in the valley. A man whose wife died in the accident testified that because the area was called a park, he assumed it was safe. No such assumptions can be made about wild areas, which Sacred Falls clearly is, despite the benign label.
The suit alleges that the state failed to take prudent safety measures. What would prudent measures be other than pouring concrete over the valley walls to seal the rocks or rigging a net across them, both of which would be unworkable and would certainly destroy the attraction. The state could have barred people from the falls, but if every natural area was closed because of potential danger, there would be no beaches for swimmers, no trails for hikers, no fishing, no hunting.
It is impossible not to feel sympathy for the families who lost their loved ones in the Sacred Falls accident. It is understandable that, in their pain, they try to fix fault. The state is an easy target.
However, people make their own choices. If they decide to swim despite stormy surf, if they choose to hike a trail through a narrow valley known for rock falls, they bear the burden of responsibility.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, President
John Flanagan, publisher and editor in chief 529-4748; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
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