16 tons of mail on way
to American Samoa
More than 16 tons of mail headed for American Samoa that has piled up at the U.S. postal facility at Honolulu Airport will be flown to Western Samoa today, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman said.
The postal service will fly the mail to Aipa in Western Samoa, where it will be processed and sent to American Samoa by barge and will finally get to customers by Tuesday, said spokesman Marc Dixon.
Hawaiian Airlines, which usually carries USPS mail to American Samoa, temporarily canceled its service to American Samoa on June 24, citing runway problems at the airport in Pago Pago.
Torrential rains over the past several weeks caused the poor runway conditions.
The airline reported damage to its Boeing 747 after foreign objects from the Pago Pago runway entered both engines.
The Federal Aviation Administration will keep the Pago Pago American Samoa airport closed for at least another week so it can complete an inspection and supervise repairs, Dixon said.
About two tons of mail headed for American Samoa comes into Honolulu daily.