New airline is here to force out others

Go! Airline's CEO Jonathan Ornstein recently made a statement that even if the airline flew 80 percent full, it would lose money at the fares it will be charging. This questions the motives that Ornstein and his airline have in entering Hawaii's interisland market. Predatory pricing, or "dumping," is a term to describe one firm selling a product strictly to drive another firm out of business. Go!'s only motive can be seen as driving one of the local airlines out of business to gain its market share.

That no one in our local government has realized this or spoken in defense of Hawaii's existing airlines is a disgrace. If go! succeeds in driving one of the local airlines into liquidation, it will mean thousands of local jobs lost and an eventual fare hike to levels similar to those we have all seen in the last few years. Please, support your local airlines, and say "No" to go!

No insult meant by FEMA comments

I certainly did not intend to offend Peter Cronburg (Letters, Star-Bulletin, April 14), or anyone else, by my comments that were published in the April 12 Star-Bulletin ("Governor seeks declaration from president for storm aid"). In response to a reporter's question, I said that unlike some parts of the country, people in Hawaii tell the truth when they ask for aid.

The fact that Mr. Cronburg repaid a Federal Emergency Management Agency loan he used to repair his California home is commendable. But not everyone is so honest. The belief that Hawaii residents are generally more truthful than many people on the mainland in their estimates of property damage following a disaster is not mine alone. Other government officials familiar with disasters around the country have made the same observation.

Not even tourists should drive guzzlers

How incredibly ironic that, as gas prices continue to increase and millions of cash-strapped Americans have dumped their oversized, overpowered, fuel-guzzling SUVs and trucks and switched to more efficient, smaller vehicles, Ford is aggressively marketing new lines of gasoline-thirsty muscle cars ("Drivers in Hawaii can soon rent new souped-up Mustang," Star-Bulletin, April 13).

As Ford and GM desperately try to float their sinking corporations, they seem to be cutting off their nose to spite their face. Is this another example of denial, backward thinking or foolishness? Or perhaps all three? And shouldn't Hawaii, of all places, be clear about the need to move in more sustainable energy directions, even with the types of rental cars its visitors drive?

Who will come to isles after sewage dump?

The tiny island of Aruba is suffering a drop in tourism in the aftermath of an inexplicable death of a female visitor. Take a look at a map and observe where Oahu is -- in the middle of the planet's largest ocean, where a similar consequence might well occur because of a sewage sore that continues to fester. It's incomprehensible to imagine, shameful to think, of the constant lie that we live; in this so-called paradise, with gangrenous yacht harbors and utterly filthy inlets and contaminated beaches.

How can we personify ourselves as a dream tropical destination? Who in their right mind would recommend this place?

Turtle Bay expansion needs another look

The City Council recently allowed one more hurdle to be jumped in favor of the Turtle Bay Resort's expansion, which is based on a 20-year-old permit. Before the concrete begins to pour and kamaaina lose yet another natural stretch of coastline, the City Council owes residents a re-evaluation of the environmental, social and cultural impacts using up-to-date methods.

Back in 1986, when the permit was issued, it was likely typed up on a Wang word processor. Not only have computers come a long way, we now have GPS for exact geo-referencing, remote sensing from satellites and planes for high-precision environmental analysis and Graphical Information Systems for sophisticated display of the immense amount of data. Why does Hawaii even have a university if it is not going to take advantage of the accumulating knowledge?

OK, City Council, be like Winnie-the-Pooh -- poke your forehead with your index finger and repeat "think-think-think."