More than 300 people jammed into Waialua Elementary School’s cafeteria and flowed out its doors Tuesday evening at a town hall meeting to air a lot of complaints about the state’s decision to terminate its lease at Dillingham Airfield.

Skydivers held signs saying, “Don’t go trashin our passion,” “We shouldn’t have to beg to do our jobs,” and others.

Jordan Wong, an employee at Skydive Hawaii, said 35 to 40 of the company’s employees were at the meeting.

“A lot of our staff is worried about the sport,” Wong said. “This is the career path they chose, and it’s what they do to put food on the table.”

Dillingham Airfield tenants — including skydiving, glider and ultralight operators — are hoping someone will step forward to prevent the North Shore airport from shutting down civilian operations June 30.

State Sen. Gil Riviere, one of several lawmakers taking part in the town hall meeting, said he was disappointed that Gov. David Ige “is not yet willing to intercede to change the outcome.”

“The Department of Transportation aviation airports division seems very determined to just put their heads down and run for the exits,” Riviere told those present.

The DOT said Tuesday it sent Dillingham tenants notification letters confirming that their 30-day revocable permits will cease to be effective June 30.

“The operations and lease arrangements at Dillingham Airfield have been the subject of ongoing discussions with our federal partners for the past eight years,” DOT Director Jade Butay said in a release. “While we understand the tenants will need to adjust to having to move their operations (from Dil­lingham) there are other available options.”

However, speaker Rob Moore derided such a suggestion at Tuesday’s meeting, saying that Kalaeloa Airport doesn’t facilitate gliders like Dillingham does, and skydivers would be dropping amid Boeing 767 aircraft.

Some speakers angrily noted that the DOT wasn’t present. Riviere urged all the Dillingham Airfield supporters to organize together.

DOT spokesman Tim Sakahara said in an email that in 2019 the state received $457,751 in total operating revenue from Dillingham and spent $1.44 million there.

Riviere previously accused the DOT Airports Division of mismanaging the airfield, while one longtime business operator likened the state to an absentee landlord.