That soaring mood at Dillingham Airfield isn’t just because of the booming business that’s returned to skydiving, glider and other tourism-based operations at the North Shore facility. It’s also due to headway being made on a lease renewal between the U.S. Army landowner and the state Department of Transportation Airports Division, which in turn is landlord to airfield tenants. Those tenants have been told to vacate by June 30, due to lease complications between the Army and state.

Now there might be a reprieve, with word that a lease renewal could be close between the Army and state. That would be good news indeed for the small businesses starting to recover after a year of pandemic lockdown.