A Mokulele aircraft is shown in 2018 at Kahului Airport. Mokulele has announced that it will suspend daily service between Kahului and Hilo starting Aug. 1 as it redeploys aircraft to boost service for Molokai. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
The Maui News
Mokulele Airlines will suspend its daily flights between Hilo and Kahului starting Aug. 1, instead redeploying the aircraft for an additional flight to Molokai and adding a new evening flight between Kahului and Kona.
Passengers holding reservations after Aug. 1 will be offered refunds or will be reaccommodated by Mokulele on Hawaiian Airlines at no additional cost to the passengers, the airline said in a news release Tuesday.
Mokulele expanded its service between Kahului and Hilo during the COVID-19 pandemic to help fill the void when Hawaiian Airlines suspended nonstop service to Kahului, Mokulele said. But now that those flights have resumed, Mokulele said it has seen passenger counts drop at Hilo while it works hard to fulfill peak day demand on Molokai and Lanai.
Keith Sisson, chief of staff at Mokulele Airlines, said that one daily flight will be added between Molokai and Kahului in the mid-afternoon time frame and will begin Aug. 1.
“The other flight additions will be added on an as-needed basis depending upon demand, so they will fluctuate from day-to-day,” Sisson said via text on Tuesday.
The only airline serving Molokai and Lanai, Mokulele said its current offerings are adequate on most days, but some popular travel times could use extra flights. In recent months, Molokai residents have been complaining on social media and in news outlets about Mokulele’s cancellations and delays.
In March, a combination of bad weather and damaged aircraft impacted service, and Mokulele announced it would invest $10 million in additional aircraft starting in April.
Redeploying aircraft to Molokai and Lanai will help fill the void of other carriers and “is the right thing to do,” said Stan Little, chairman and CEO of Southern Airways, which owns Mokulele.
“The people of Hawaii can rest assured that when other voids in air service occur in the future, Mokulele Airlines will again be there to serve the need to the best of our ability. That remains our commitment,” Little said in a news release.
In addition to adding flights to Molokai and Lanai when needed, Mokulele will add an extra evening nonstop flight between Kahului and Kona between 7 to 8 p.m., according to Sisson.
Mokulele service between Kahului and Hilo will not be terminated but is being suspended, the airline said. No date has been set for a return to daily service on this route.
Sisson said that no jobs will be affected in Kahului. Six employees in Hilo will be given the option to transfer or take a severance package.
“We are grateful to all the passengers who have flown with us to and from Hilo over the years, and we are especially thankful for all our colleagues — our Hilo Ohana — who have been part of our team for so long,” Sisson said in a news release. “All Mokulele employees at Hilo have a standing job offer at any other Mokulele station in Hawaii or any other Southern Airways station on the mainland.”
A Mokulele aircraft is shown in 2018 at Kahului Airport. Mokulele has announced that it will suspend daily service between Kahului and Hilo starting Aug. 1 as it redeploys aircraft to boost service for Molokai. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photoToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
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