The first commercial airline service out of Kalaeloa Airport could become a reality early next year.
Mokulele Airlines is seeking state and community support to operate daily service to Lanai, Molokai and Maui, as well as possibly Kona, from the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station. The flights would give residents in the growing West Oahu region a convenient option for interisland travel where parking would be free, tickets will be less than $100 one way and there would be no time-consuming security checks.
"There’s a large population on that end of the island to support our kind of service," said Ron Hansen, chief executive officer of Kona-based Mokulele. "We think it could be a very good market, and we’d like to be the one that initiates it."
Mokulele has been working on the venture for about six months, Hansen said Monday, adding that he is hoping to begin service in the first quarter of next year.
The naval air station, which closed July 1, 1999, is now used by the U.S. Coast Guard as well as other military aircraft and private planes. Mokulele will present its plan to the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Kapolei High School.
Hansen said Mokulele has not yet set up a schedule, but would fly a minimum of eight round trips a day from Kalaeloa. Those would include two daily round trips to each of four neighbor island airports — Lanai, Molokai and two on Maui to Kahului and Kapalua airports. Mokulele would use its nine-seat Cessna Grand Caravan 208B turboprop aircraft.
Hansen said Mokulele would not operate any evening flights so as not to bother nearby residents with noise, and will not reduce any service it offers from the commuter terminal at Honolulu Airport, the only airport on Oahu with commercial service.
"We may need to do an environmental impact statement, but our planes barely make any noise compared to the military aircraft that use the airport," he said.
Hansen said the Kalaeloa air traffic control tower is manned 24 hours a day, and described the facility as "huge" and "phenomenal."
"It has lots of space and lots of runways and buildings," he said. "The passenger terminal is 1940-era, and we have requested that if we start operating, that the state would upgrade or redecorate. That’s part of the plan, but compared to some of the other commuter terminals we operate from, it’s probably equal or better."
Hansen said Mokulele has met with Robert Ramos, manager of Kalaeloa Airport, as well as state airport and government officials.
Ramos said he gave Mokulele officials a tour of the facilities and supports the airline starting up commercial operations at Kalaeloa.
Hansen said passengers would not have to pass through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint because it is not required for aircraft with nine or fewer seats.
"It’s just a beautiful situation," Hansen said. "It will be so much quicker than going to Honolulu."
Mokulele has been rapidly expanding since parent company Transpac Aviation, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., bought the small carrier in November 2011 from Mesa Air Group Inc., operator of go! airlines.
Mokulele now has 140 employees and 10 Caravans compared with 40 employees and four Caravans when in 2011.
Mokulele has 100 to 120 flights a day and serves eight airports: Honolulu, Lanai, Molokai, Kapalua, Kahului, Hana, Kona and Waimea.
Hansen said the airline also is bidding for a federal essential air services contract to provide flights from Honolulu and Kahului to Kalaupapa on Molokai. The two-year contract, currently held by Makani Kai Air Charters, is up for renewal at the end of this month. Such contracts provide federal subsidies to airlines to encourage them to provide service for rural communities.
Separately, Hansen said the National Transportation Safety Board has not made a determination yet on the loss of engine power that caused Mokulele Express Flight 1770, with 10 people aboard, to make an emergency landing Oct. 21 on Piilani Highway in Kihei, Maui. The plane, with two pilots and eight passengers, landed safely just after 7 p.m. after departing from Kahului Airport for Waimea on Hawaii island.
"The engine is going to be taken apart next month by the NTSB, and then we’ll have the results of that," Hansen said. "Nobody seems to know what caused it. No one was injured, and it’s just a miracle everything turned out the way it did. We’ve got some phenomenal pilots that are phenomenally trained, and they did a great job that night."
Hansen said the plane was for sale at the time and was about to go to a mainland buyer. The aircraft is no longer in Mokulele’s fleet, Hansen said.
