Airport bustles with holiday fliers
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Christmas crunch was on yesterday at Honolulu International Airport.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
But looks can be deceiving, according to Irineo Hilario Jr.
Sheena Yadao heads back to Kaua'i with her Christmas presents stacked high while waiting in line at Aloha Airlines.
As a skycap in Hawai'i for three decades, Hilario has seen holiday bustle through the best and worst of times. And, he says, since numerous Mainland flights depart around the same time, lobbies can sometimes seem more congested than they are.
"A year ago this place was absolutely packed," said Hilario, 67. "I don't know what it's going to take to change things. A lot of people are losing their jobs so they don't have money to travel."
By his estimate, business was down 30 percent or more.
At Hawaiian Airlines — where long lines of travelers snaked through the lobby and out the door — veteran Paradise skycap Paul DeGuzman was almost too busy to agree.
But busier than last year?
"No," he said. "It's about the same as every Christmas. Interisland travel before Christmas is always busy."
