Colleen Hanabusa, a former congresswoman and state lawmaker, is a veteran of the job to which she was elected Friday: chairwoman of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board of directors.

But it’s almost a different job in 2021. The rail project that the board oversees is beset by even more financial and technical problems than it was in 2016, when she last occupied the chair.

And the push for transparency — which seemed lacking when Hanabusa was the only person in line for a contract job — is even stronger now.

Stay calm as air travel demand soars

Summer air travel has returned nationwide, clogging airports and catching airlines flat-footed with customer surges amid staff shortages. It remains to be seen if the aggressive delta variant of the coronavirus will start chilling bookings.

For now, pent-up demand is spiking U.S. air travel to new pandemic-era highs, with 2.2 million-plus people going through airport checkpoints on Sunday. Flyers should stay vigilant on several fronts: Mask and vaccinate against COVID-19, of course — but also, stay calm in this summer of high flight cancellations and delays. On Sunday alone, for instance, about 7,400 flights arrived at least 15 minutes late, and more than 900 were canceled.