Tighter security
hits carriers in
air-dependent Hawaii

Aloha Airlines attributes
a drop in on-time flights
to increased precautions

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

New airport security regulations have complicated air travel in Hawaii more than in places less dependent upon jet transportation.

The new regulations are the main reason Aloha Airlines' on-time performance last month fell to 11th of 12 airlines filing federal reports, the airline says.

Because of Hawaii's island structure, where the only way to get from one city to another is by air, local travel habits are causing security checks to single out a lot of people, causing delays, said Stu Glauberman, a spokesman for the airline.

Hawaiian Airlines agreed, saying it is experiencing the same high level of security checks, but it does not disclose its on-time performance and would not say whether its interisland record has slipped.

Aloha, which started voluntarily reporting its on-time record in October 2000, going up against a dozen major carriers on the mainland that have to report because of their size, had been No. 1 for seven out of 10 months and No. 2 for the remaining three months.

For October, the airline's record slipped to 79.9 percent of its flights arriving on time, down from 84.5 percent in August, when it was at the top of the list. (September reports aren't comparable because the airlines only gave figures for the first 10 days leading up to the Sept. 11 hijacking crashes).

The downturn "is a direct result of the FAA imposition of certain stringent security requirements in the aftermath of Sept. 11," Glauberman said.

"We recognize that security comes first and we recognize that the security requirements are well-intentioned," but the impact on Hawaii travel is more severe than elsewhere, he said. "The most dramatic impact comes from the large number of selectees," travelers who are taken aside for hand-baggage searches and electronic-wand body checks.

The travel characteristics here -- where people make interisland day trips, travel light, make last-minute decisions to go and often pay cash -- are also seen as characteristics of how terrorists travel. The Federal Aviation Administration's security rules call for greater scrutiny of people who purchase tickets less than 48 hours in advance, pay with cash -- and coupons are considered cash since they can be used any time -- and travel without baggage.

Another factor that could cause someone to be selected for an extra check is traveling one-way, especially if the traveler fits the other conditions too.

"These four characteristics are very unusual on the mainland," Glauberman said. "The number of selectees (in Hawaii) is in excess of 30 percent.

"These added precautions are causing significant delays at the gate" and when one flight is late it ripples through the entire interisland system, he said.

The airline's first step now is to stop its voluntary reporting, Glauberman said. "Federal law allows any carrier that voluntarily reports to cease reporting after 12 months" and Aloha has now reached that point, he said.