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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Airport’s porter services
have rulesQuestion: I went to pick up my 82-year-old mother recently at Honolulu Airport after she arrived from the Philippines. She is confined to a wheelchair.
Coming out of customs, she was being pushed by a man who was wearing a dark uniform. I think that that was his job -- to push people in wheelchairs.
I asked if he could push her to my car, which was parked across the street. He said OK. When we got to my car, I gave him $5 and he said, "Is this all?" I said yes, and he left without saying thank you or anything. I just want to know, are tips mandatory? Is he getting paid by the airport or the airlines?
Answer: The Hawaii Administrative Rules prohibit porters from soliciting tips, according to Davis Yogi, state airports administrator.
He explained that individual airlines contract with a porter service company or have their own employees providing porter service to customers. The porters are given training in such areas as hazardous-material recognition, customer service, the Americans with Disabilities Act, computers, security, etc.
Most of that is mandated by federal regulations, Yogi said, but each airline training program is tailored to its operational and customer service procedures.
A porter service that is hired by an airline must apply for a porter service permit from the airport, he said.
The porter service has to comply with certain airport regulations, including insurance requirements, payment, badges, security, etc., he said. Porters are required to display an airport-issued badge to clearly identify them.
Honolulu Airport officials say complaints like yours are rare, but when they do receive them, they are usually referred to the airline.
In your case, you are advised to contact Philippine Airlines and provide them with details of your encounter, including date, time, name of person (if available), description, etc.
"If the airline or porter company does not follow up, we document the incident and send a formal letter to the airline and porter company," Yogi said. "The airlines and porter service companies have always responded in a timely manner and taken appropriate action to correct and prevent problems from occurring."
If you are not comfortable in dealing directly with the airline, you can contact Honolulu Airport officials "and provide us with the details, as we expect airport permittees to conduct themselves in a professional manner," Yogi said.
Q: I have past issues of Home & Garden and some Sunset magazines that I would like to donate to any individual or organization that can use them. These issues are from 2002 and some from 2001. Some of the issues have articles cut out of them. Can you let me know who I can contact?
A: We periodically receive requests like this and think it's time to update our files.
If there are any groups, agencies, institutions, etc., that would like donations of magazines or books, please call "Kokua Line" at 529-4773.
Leave a name, contact number and kinds of publications you'd like to receive.
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See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
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Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
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