A Hawaii island lawmaker is seeking lower interisland airfares to make it more affordable for kamaaina to visit family and tend to emergencies.
Sen. Malama Solomon (D, Hilo-Honokaa) has introduced a bill that calls for the state Public Utilities Commission to regulate the fares similar to what the agency does with interisland shipping.
"Local residents have limited options when it comes to interisland travel," she said. "Due to the fact that Hawaii’s residents have very few options, the state needs to assure that local families have affordable airfare rates for family visits and emergencies."
But the bill may have a hard time taking off.
The Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection on Friday deferred indefinitely SB 451 and asked state consumer advocate Jeffrey Ono to prepare a letter to the attorney general’s office to see what the state could do at the federal level to get Hawaii an exemption to the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act. The act, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter, removes government control over fares, routes and the market entry of new airlines.
Ono testified that even if Hawaii were to pass a law regulating interisland airfares, it would have little chance of being implemented because it would be overridden by federal law.
"We have concerns this is an area that is pre-empted by federal law," Ono said. "The Legislature could pass this and build an exclusion for an area of transportation, but there would be very little, if anything, left for the PUC to actually regulate."
Solomon, who was at Friday’s hearing, said she introduced the bill to generate discussion and see if there was a way to make it more affordable for local consumers to fly interisland. She said the neighbor islands are in a state of crisis in terms of the cost of air travel.
"People from Oahu really do not have to travel to the neighbor islands if they do not desire to do so," she said. "But neighbor islands all have to come to Oahu. We have the university here. It’s getting to the point where even our athletic teams, when they come down for athletic tournaments, are struggling. Hawaiian Airlines has tried to make an affordable airfare, but it’s still over $200 for a round trip. Then, of course, there are the baggage fees you’ve got to pay. You can’t even take one bag."
Hawaiian charges $17 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second checked bag on interisland travel.
PUC Chairman Hermina Morita said in written testimony that she was concerned about the structure of the bill and that it does not provide a justification for the regulation of aerial transportation.
"Nor does this bill give guidance on what should be regulated as aerial transportation, which could include a range of businesses like interisland airline travel, interisland air cargo, or flight tours," she said. "Other regulated transportation sectors have a specific chapter providing statutory guidance for the regulation of motor carriers and water carriers. Such a section would have to be developed for aerial transportation."
Colorado-based airline consultant Mike Boyd called an attempt to regulate interisland airfares in Hawaii "nonsense."
"What Hawaii has to face is even if you want affordable, that means subsidized," he said. "That’s the bottom line. You can’t force companies to provide services for less than what it costs."
