With Mokulele temporarily out of service, rural residents resort to plan B for travel

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Mokulele travelers quickly learned through word of mouth Wednesday that flights were canceled in a sudden grounding of the fleet.

Many said they received little information from the company, and were left to figure out alternative arrangements on their own.

“They told us nothing,” Molokai resident Lori Buchanan said. “What we did was, we heard it on the news, but we heard it firsthand from people on Molokai who went to the airport this morning to get to their flight, and were told that they were not flying.”

Notices on the company’s website said all flights were paused out of an abundance of caution due to maintenance and aircraft inspections.

A handful of passengers were re-booked on at least one non-Mokulele aircraft, which did depart before noon. Passengers said it was a special flight for people with Medical priority.

“Safety is always paramount and a priority so I’m glad they’re taking steps, if that’s the issue, but we don’t even know what the issue is,” Buchanan added.

The cancellations also prevented a number of Molokai residents, including a councilwoman, from attending the state legislature’s opening day.

Mokulele customers say such issues seem to be a recurring problem for the small airline. State lawmakers have tried to find solutions ranging from bringing in more airlines to extending the runway to accommodate larger planes, but solutions aren’t coming easy.

Moloka’i’s Senator Lynn DeCoite says she’s explored many options, but federal regulations make it difficult.

“What we do have an issue with is FAA. It would be super helpful if our congressional delegation would also help as well. FAA has strict regulations on the airports and the runways, so as we try to address that, this is a federal issue on extensions of runways,” Sen. DeCoite said.

She added that Pacific Charter Air is coming online soon, but they’re still working on training and compliance.

Meanwhile, other Molokai residents took alternate travel plans into their own hands.

Business owner Tylor Tanaka looked into chartering a Kamaka Air flight, which would cost about $2,500.

“Someone already did that so we’re jumping on their charter and it’s gonna be about $300 per person, one-way. But we are fortunate enough to get a seat out tonight because we have to be back for work tomorrow,” he said.

Other family members were headed to Las Vegas and when their flight to Honolulu was canceled, they were forced to catch a boat to Maui just to fly to HNL before jetting off to Sin City.

“Hopefully one day, someone will answer our prayers, and we can have better options for Molokai,” Tanaka said.

It’s unclear how soon Mokulele will be back up and running. At last check with the call center, there were no open reservations until Jan. 20.

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