FAA inquires about airport plans

The agency wants information from the state before Mesa is allowed to use the commuter terminal

The Federal Aviation Administration is asking the state for information about plans to put Mesa Air Group's new interisland airline in the Honolulu Airport commuter terminal.

In a letter to the state Department of Transportation, dated Wednesday, the FAA said that before the state lets Mesa use the commuter terminal, it wants to know how airlines will have access to terminal and ramp areas in a non-discriminatory manner, how rates and charges are determined, how the DOT plans to ensure safety with larger and smaller aircraft operating close to each other and how ramp security is being handled.

The letter, addressed to Brian Sekiguchi, deputy director of the state's airports, was received yesterday by certified mail, state transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said.

"We just got it, and need to look at it closer before we respond," Ishikawa said.

The letter was signed by Mark McClardy, manager of the FAA's airports division for the Western-Pacific Region.

Greg Stephens, chief operating officer of Mesa's startup interisland airline, go!, said last night he hadn't seen the letter but planned to talk to the state about it today. Go! is scheduled to begin interisland service on June 9.

"I don't really anticipate there being any holdups," he said. "I've seen the airport plan and I certainly don't see any safety concerns or other issues."

Greg Kalhstorf, president of interisland commuter carrier Pacific Wings, which operates out of the commuter terminal with nine-seat aircraft, has opposed co-existing with Mesa in that terminal. He said Mesa's presence there will hurt Pacific Wings' business and create safety concerns due to the mixture of jets and turboprops.

Peter Murnane, chief financial officer for Mesa Air Group, compared go!'s situation to Island Air, which operates out of the commuter terminal.

"To a certain extent, we're no different than Island Air, and Island Air is flying more aircraft," said Murnane. Go! will have five 50-seat CRJ-200s in its Hawaii fleet by the end of June.

"On Island Air's 37-seat Dash-8s, the wingspan is wider than our CRJs and the aircraft is taller. On their new (78-seat) larger planes, not only is the wingspan wider and taller, it's longer and the plane carries more people. If Island Air is able to operate safely and efficiently out of the commuter terminal with all of its aircraft that are essentially larger than ours, I can't imagine us operating four or five aircraft is an issue."

Earlier this month, the state DOT told Mesa that it would have to use the more-expensive interisland terminal occupied by Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines. It reversed its decision after Aloha and Mesa objected.