SIDA taxi company
closes downThe firm owes the state more than $700,000;
the closing puts dozens of drivers out of work
An Oahu taxicab company closed last week, owing more than $700,000 to the state and leaving dozens of drivers without jobs.
Drivers for SIDA of Hawaii Inc. said the last anyone heard from management was over two-way radios Saturday night when the dispatcher said communications would cease after 6 p.m.
"It's like they vanished," said former driver Hung Le. "I call them, no answer. I check at the office, nobody's there. No radio dispatcher, nothing."
A check at the company's former offices at 439 Kalewa Drive shows the SIDA of Hawaii sign above the front door, but on the door itself is the yellow sign for The CAB, a local competitor.
The CAB officials said the office became theirs on Feb. 1 when the contract to run the taxi dispatching service at Honolulu Airport was awarded to them by the state Department of Transportation.
"We did terminate the contract on Jan. 31 with SIDA," confirmed transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa yesterday. "And we did start a month-to-month contract with The CAB on Feb. 1.
"As far as SIDA closing up, we have no knowledge of that. ... However, they do still owe the state $732,572 on delinquent concessionaire payments and interest."
SIDA executives could not be reached for comment.
A company official for The CAB who did not want to be identified said SIDA did shut down and posted a letter at an airport bulletin board Friday stating in two or three sentences that the company would no longer be in business.
"I didn't even know they weren't paying the airport. ... So much for my deposit," said former 25-year SIDA driver Paul Sur of the money he gave the company to start working for them. Sur quit the company in March after it lost the airport contract.
"The state should audit these guys ... find out what happened to all the money."
According to Thinh Nguyen, of the Honolulu Cabbies Association, SIDA employed 118 drivers before it closed. However, Nguyen said most of them started leaving when the airport contract was lost.
"At one point they had almost 400 drivers," said Nguyen.
"We're trying to help them, but to do so, we may have to sue SIDA. And if they file for bankruptcy, then we don't know what we'll do."
Former SIDA taxicab drivers said the company owes them for the initial deposits they made when they first joined the firm, which range from $100 to $200, along with stall rental fees.
However, the big money owed comes from airline vouchers, which are given to passengers whose flights are delayed and have to catch cabs from the airport to hotels. The cab drivers turned the vouchers into the office, which redeemed them from the airlines.
"I'm owed only $80 in vouchers," said former SIDA driver Charles Le. "Some guys are owed $2,000-$3,000."
Le, who had worked at SIDA for eight years, said he was among those who quit after the company lost the airport contract.
"I'm glad I quit early before all this happened ... real glad."
Le and about 30 drivers mostly from SIDA formed VINA Cab, after SIDA lost the contract.
"We're doing OK," said Hung Le, who followed his old boss Charles Le, who is no relation, to VINA.
Referring to his old SIDA uniforms, Hung Le laughed and said: "I have six shirts in my closet. ... Want one?"