Air travel is a lifeline for the community of Lānaʻi. But the primary airline for the island's residents says it will need federal subsidies to continue the service.
“The Lānaʻi people who travel by air to Honolulu, they're going for doctor's appointments, they're going for professional services, they're going to get their teeth done, they're going for very important meetings. So it's not like we're going just for fun in the sun,” said Maui County Councilmember Gabe Johnson, who represents Lānaʻi.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Essential Air Service program was established in 1978 to ensure small or underserved communities maintain adequate transportation to larger hubs. The program offers subsidies, if needed, to air carriers on a per-flight basis.
Lānaʻi and Moloka’i were determined as EAS airports in 1983 but have never had subsidized service.
“The fact that for years, for generations, that subsidy has not been applied for, really is disappointing,” Johnson said.
That is changing soon. Mokulele Airlines has been Lānaʻi’s primary carrier since 2021. The company recently submitted a letter to the DOT to terminate its Lānaʻi operation.
“It is with great regret that Southern Airways, d.b.a. Mokulele Airlines, submits a 90-day notice for termination of unsubsidized Essential Air Service at Lānaʻi, Hawai‘i,” wrote Mokulele’s Chief of Staff Keith Sisson on a December letter to the USDOT. “Rising costs and stagnant market demand have caused unsubsidized air service on the island to remain perpetually unprofitable.”
Johnson said that the news caused panic in the community.
“Mokulele hasn't come over here and had a meeting and talk to us about what their plans are. And that would have really helped to kind of get the facts straight,” he said.
The airline said it does not plan to stop flying to Lānaʻi — it just needs a subsidy to do so.
“Lānaʻi qualifies for subsidized air service, and we are simply asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to pull that lever and allow us to turn those flights into subsidized flights from the DOT, so that we can keep the fares at the historical levels for the local traffic,” Sisson told HPR. “But at no point will there be a lapse of service for anybody on Lānaʻi.”
In response to Mokulele’s notice of termination, the U.S. DOT issued a request for proposals for subsidized — or unsubsidized — service to Lānaʻi. The order also prohibits Mokulele from terminating service until April 7, or “until the date on which an air carrier begins replacement EAS at Lānaʻi, whichever occurs earlier.”
The original DOT deadline of March 12 has been extended to March 22 for airline proposals for the route.
“Absolutely, we're an interested airline," Sisson said. "We want to stay at Lānaʻi and keep building what we built and use our scale and size in Hawaiʻi to provide better service to the people of Lānaʻi and just do so without having to increase fares in a situation where we are now with global inflation."
Mokulele currently holds EAS contracts for Kalaupapa, Hāna and Kamuela.
For its Lānaʻi service, the airline flies about eight round trips per day between Lānaʻi and Honolulu, and three daily trips to Maui on its nine-seat, single-engine Cessna Grand Caravans, with additional flights on a twin engine 30-seat Saab aircraft.
But they have competition.
Earlier this week, Cape Air shared a presentation with Lānaʻi residents and heard their needs and concerns. Johnson said the airline plans to submit an EAS bid for the island.
Cape Air serves communities in the continental U.S., Caribbean and Micronesia, and would bring nine-seat, twin-engine Tecnam Traveler aircraft to Lānaʻi.
Johnson said he was impressed by Cape Air, which already holds 13 EAS subsidies.
“We like to support the guys who've been supporting us for many years,” Johnson explained. “So it's very unusual for when a company has been servicing Lānaʻi, like Mokulele has been, that people are really interested in seeing what else is out there.”
A USDOT representative said as of Wednesday, no EAS proposals had yet been submitted.
Proposals received by the March 22 deadline will be made public here. Then the DOT can request community comments for a 30-day period before selecting a winning bid.
