Flight schools feel pinch
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Federal flight restrictions meant to increase air security following last week's Mainland terrorist attacks are having a devastating affect on Hawai'i's flying schools and other businesses that rely on small planes.
"Frankly, I suspect my business is about five days away from bankruptcy," said Phil Auldridge, president of Hawaii Flight Academy on the Big Island. "For all practical purposes, we're shut down."
The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded most of the nation's aircraft that are tracked by sight, as opposed to instrumentation and mandatory communication with air traffic controllers.
Aircraft operating under Visual Flight Rules fly independently, are not required to file flight plans, and can be impossible for radar to follow. Officials fear these small planes, without stricter tracking controls, could be used to carry out terrorist attacks similar to those that leveled the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon last Tuesday.
Officials decline to say when the national restrictions on such such "FAA Part 91 VFR" flights will be lifted. But as they continue, grounded companies must still pay overhead costs for equipment, facilities, insurance and other business needs.
"Those all go on whether we have revenue or not," said Auldridge, whose company has 25 employees and is the largest of the state's dozen or so private flight schools. "There's not a whole lot of cushion for any of us."
In Honolulu, the O'ahu Aviation school has already laid off 15 people and may not last much longer unless its planes can take off again, owner Stefanie Suenaga said.
"I give us another week before we have to shut down forever," she said. "The big airlines are asking for loans and grants to bail them out, but nobody's going to give us anything."
Federal officials say the restrictions will be in place "until further notice," in accordance with national security needs.
"Since last Tuesday, clearly about 3,000 people have been impacted in Hawai'i," said Tweet Coleman, the FAA's Pacific representative. "It's unfortunate and I really empathize with people, but we're taking our orders from the FAA command center in Washington."
Many affected businesspeople say they recognize the need for security but say they hope officials can work out a compromise that will keep their companies alive.
Bill Star, owner of Original Glider Rides, said the restrictions have shut down the glider industry.
"Each day is more horrendous and it's really having a domino effect," he said.
Dillingham Airfield, where Star's 31-year-old firm operates, has virtually shut down because of the FAA restrictions, which have grounded all 15 planes and 30 gliders that fly out of the tiny North Shore air strip near Ka'ena Point.
"It's a ghost town up here now," said Rollo Royce, who monitors operations there for the state Department of Transportation, which leases the site from the Army during daylight hours. "This is a pretty busy little airport when it's running."
The restrictions have also halted all skydiving at Dillingham, which is host to the only three recreational parachuting companies in the state.
"We need to jump out of airplanes, and if the plane can't take off we're grounded, too," said Skydive Hawaii manager Clarence Lopez. "I hope it won't be much longer, because people are already starting to go on unemployment."
Pilots, parachute packers, fuelers, mechanics, drivers who pick up customers, video camera operators and others have all been idled, he said.
"Looking at the bigger picture, this is small potatoes to deal with compared to what happened in New York, but it will have a big impact on a lot of people in Hawai'i," Lopez said.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
