HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Air travel is often viewed as a luxury.
But for the people of Molokai, it’s a lifeline.
Now, a new effort is underway aimed at improving the island’s limited access to air travel.
This comes after Mokulele, the island’s only air carrier, scrapped dozens of flights last month due to a series of unscheduled aircraft inspections leaving travelers stranded for days, even weeks.
The latest disruption prompted community members to document impacts so decision-makers could understand the harm unreliable air service has on families.
On Feb. 14, 2023, Kiele Kansana got news no parent ever wants.
Kansana’s oldest son, Tewai, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Doctors said to keep it from growing, the 9-year-old would need to make weekly trips from Molokai to Oahu for treatment.
“Our whole world was just flipped upside down,” Kansana said. “We were just trying to grasp his whole diagnosis and then trying to think like, how are we going to travel back and forth.”
This past year has tested her family.
Their hardships were further amplified due to the lack of reliable air service. Because of unexpected delays and cancellations, they now leave Molokai a day prior to Tewai’s treatments, and have even gone as far as hiring a boat to ensure the boy gets where he needs to be.
“His appointment is three hours,” said Kansana, “and it takes us three days to travel sometimes.”
Tylor Tanaka, a Molokai resident and community advocate, said problems with air travel on the island were exacerbated when Hawaiian stopped its service, leaving Mokulele as its sole commercial air provider.
“That’s when we really felt how fragile just having one air transportation is to the island,” said Tanaka. “It’s kind of almost third-world country.”
Tanaka, who has lived on Molokai all his life, also heads up his own business consulting firm.
He used those resources to gather data to compile a report illustrating how last month’s travel disruptions impacted local families.
“It was done through Google Forms. Very simple. You just go to the link or scan the QR code,” Tanaka said. “We asked for their name. Their number. The day they were supposed to fly. And their flight number or the confirmation number to help validate that they were traveling during that time.”
Of the 117 respondents:
- 67 said the recent cancellation caused them to miss an important appointment.
- 18 couldn’t get to work or lost wages.
- 23 said they paid extra for alternative transportation.
- 9 reported being separated from family.
When asked how much longer it took for respondents to get to their destination while Mokulele’s fleet was grounded, 36 people said it took between one and four days to get where they were going. Fifty-two people said they didn’t travel at all.
Those who did travel say they had to shell out hundreds of dollars extra to either charter a plane or boat.
Tanaka told HNN Investigates the current situation isn’t sustainable, and has a profound impact on the island’s economy, education and health care.
“There has to be a solution,” he said.
HNN Investigates asked Mokulele Airlines about its thoughts on the survey, if it thinks it’s capable of being the sole provider of reliable service to the island of Molokai, and what changes the company’s made to ensure there are no future interruptions.
We’re waiting for a response.
Meanwhile, Kansana had this to say when asked what she wanted lawmakers to know, “I think it’s enough already.”
On Wednesday, Kansana was on Oahu with her son for treatment at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. She told us her Mokulele flight was supposed to depart at 8:40 p.m., but didn’t depart until 10:10 p.m.
Some residents we spoke with wanted to know if the military could provide any assistance, especially when it comes to the issue of people needing to travel for medical purposes.
We sent that question to all four members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation and are waiting for a response.
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