Cargo slowdown delays As yet another side effect of the West Coast dock slowdown, some interisland travelers with disabilities are going to have to wait for a change that will make it easier for them to board their flights.
Island Air machinery
Dock woes may leave hot toys in short supply
By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.comIsland Air, the smaller sister of interisland carrier Aloha Airlines, has asked the federal Department of Transportation to extend a Dec. 4 deadline requiring mechanical lifts be available to zip wheelchair-bound passenger on and off its planes at airports at Honolulu, Lanai, Molokai, and Kahului and Kapalua on Maui.
The alternative is to have passengers hand-carried up and down the steps. Island Air does not use jetways.
The airline said the five lifts were ordered and paid for by the end of June. "We thought they would be delivered in September and we could make the deadline easily," said Stu Glauberman, a spokesman for Aloha Airlines and Island Air. Many airlines needed the lifts and there was a backlog at the factory in Calgary, Canada.
Because of that rush of orders, Island Air was told its lifts would not be ready at the factory until the end of October and it would normally take about three weeks to get them to the islands. Glauberman said the slowdown on the West Coast docks has pushed that back and the equipment now should be in place by the end of December.
"We applied for an exemption just for a bit more wiggle room," Glauberman said.
Because the items are not perishable, they don't get high priority and have to wait while the West Coast cargo logjam works itself out, he said.
Meanwhile, disabled passengers who need help will continue to be carried aboard the Island Air 37-seat De Havilland Dash 8 aircraft and 18-seat De Havilland Dash 6 planes in what are called "aisle boarding chairs." They are stiff-backed chairs carried by hand into the planes, Glauberman said.
Island Air said in its federal filing it will continue to board passengers in need of assistance "in a dignified, safe manner" but it may need until Feb. 1 to comply with the mechanical-lift regulation. Shipping lines have said Hawaii-bound freight is running about 10 days behind schedule because of the West Coast freight jam.
Pacific Maritime Association
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
